


Mad Woman ✧ Ellie Williams

by gracehateseggnog



Category: The Last of Us (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apocalypse, Attempted Murder, Based on a Taylor Swift Song, Bloaters (The Last of Us), Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Clickers (The Last Of Us), F/F, F/M, Fluff, Game: The Last of Us Part II, Infected Characters, Inspired by The Last of Us (Video Games), Major Character Injury, Major Original Character(s), Minor Character Death, Murder, No Sex, No Smut, Non-Canon Relationship, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, POV Alternating, POV Third Person, Parent Joel (The Last of Us), Post-Apocalypse, Pre-The Last of Us Part II (Video Game), Runners (The Last of Us), Song: mad woman (Taylor Swift), Stalkers (The Last Of Us), The Last Of Us: Left Behind Spoilers, The Last of Us Part II Spoilers, The Last of Us Spoilers, WLF | Washington Liberation Front (The Last of Us), Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 13:35:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28725954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracehateseggnog/pseuds/gracehateseggnog
Summary: "How the hell did you manage to walk all the way from California to Jackson County?""To be honest, I don't know."Where two lost and lonely girls find each other in the midst of their own hurts.
Relationships: Ellie (The Last of Us) & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀᴛᴛʟᴇʀꜱ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

ɪɴᴛʀᴏᴅᴜᴄᴛɪᴏɴ  
ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀᴛᴛʟᴇʀꜱ

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Willow had counted that it had been almost thirty days after she was initially captured by the Rattlers. Day after day she was used as bait to capture Clickers, slavery, and of course, for personal entertainment. The Rattlers were a cult of psychos, to put it lightly. After the cordyceps virus initially migrated to human brains in 2033, the whole world broke apart. Religions and race didn't break apart the world anymore, and naturally, groups formed. Some groups, like FEDRA and the WLF, had massive funding, and were normally extremely corrupt in how they controlled their people. Smaller groups also formed, like Jackson County, small villages and towns banded together and created safe spaces, or crazy psycho gangs.. And then, cults formed. In the United States, there were two. The Scars, and the Rattlers, and the Rattlers had just so happened to capture Willow.

Now for the Rattlers, after two months, the prisoners would be hung on sticks at the shoreline of the Californian island. But for Willow, since her small, limp and exhausted body was no use to the Rattlers anymore, she was dragged down to the hanging posts a whole month early. Her wrists felt alive when they uncuffed her for the first time since she had been captured, but they soon roared with pain and fire as they tied her up to one of the posts, letting her head hang down. Willow's legs were quickly tied up and they left her to lay there, checking on every other post to make sure the ropes were tightly wrapped around their limbs.

It was like a scene in a horror movie. Every person who was still alive was barely breathing, their neck sore from hanging low. You couldn't tell who was alive and who was dead. Willow tried to take deep breaths, savoring the air that was being taken from her as her body slowly collapsed underneath the harsh restraints. She glanced over to her wrists, watching as the knot started falling loose under her movements. Slowly but surely, one slipped loose, sending her body sideways and shifting in a horribly uncomfortable position. Willow groaned and attempted to maneuver her other wrist, letting it release from the wooden stake. Her body flipped forward, and if she hadn't moved her incredibly sore arms in front of her face, she would've been knocked out from the impact against the wood that she was once tied to. Using the half upside-down position she had fallen into, she pulled her feet restraints loose, letting her whole entire body fall limp onto the sand.

Willow didn't even know how long she had been out on the stakes, but even if it was for a few moments after the Rattlers walked away from the area, it felt like a lifetime. Her weak and sore legs made an attempt to walk across the sandy beach and make it to the small metal boats sitting on the shore. Her legs gave out once, twice, too many times to count, and she just wanted the blinding pain in her head to go away. Willow's feet were bare, and they were blistering badly under the harsh qualities of the sand. Out of the numbness in her hands, she only then realized that they hadn't shaved her head yet. She was lucky, her blonde hair was one of the things she truly loved about herself.

She tried to keep her head low as she passed the hundreds of people, dead and alive, tied up to the stakes littered across the shoreline. The metal boat was _just_ in her reach.

"How the fuck did she get out?!" A man yelled. Even though every inch of her body screamed at her to stop, Willow tried her best to run towards the boats. "Shit! She's running!" The girl knew that if she made it onto the metal vehicle, the Rattlers chasing after her just wouldn't bother going after her. They put her out on the stakes for a reason, after all. Quickly, she found the rope to the boat and untied it, only to be pushed into the water. Luckily, though, she had spotted a knife in one of the benches. So, she leaped up out of the water and grasped it in her wet palm, shoving it into one of the Rattlers' chests.

"Fuck! She's armed!" They fell to the ground, sputtering out as ocean water entered into their lungs. Willow pulled the knife out of their chest and hopped into the boat, pulling at the motor as it sped off into the sea. As the Californian Island disappeared from view, she relaxed her muscles, letting the pain begin to fall away. She knew that as soon as she reached land she'd have to find something to eat, but she wanted to wait until she needed to think about where she was going.

Luckily, there was a map resting near her feet. It was spattered with blood, dirt, and water, just like her. The red dot that designated where Willow once was had the label of _Santa Catalina Island,_ and it was just off of the coast of California. The map was obviously from pre-outbreak times, as every place was labeled with actual place names, not by gangs and groups that were known to locate around each area. She planned to hide out on the shore of Los Angeles, she knew it was a city-like area, so she could easily hide and get some supplies on her way. After, she hoped to trek for around eleven days to get to Salt Lake City. The Rattlers had discussed the fact that there was a small group there, so she could get there immediately.

Somehow, Willow was oddly calmed by the sea crashing against the metal boat she rode into the distance. She rested her eyes for just a moment, but her body soon collapsed into exhaustion, and the boat began to direct itself forward for a few hours of the journey.


	2. ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛʏ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ  
ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛʏ

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Ellie hadn't talked to Joel since he had told her what _really_ happened when she went to the Fireflies. It was late summer, the days when the horrifying heat was finally over but it was still overbearingly warm mid-day. The weather wasn't ideal for Ellie, as all she occupied herself with each and everyday was going on patrols with Jesse, Dina, or just by herself. She didn't want to see Joel, and preoccupying herself with making sure that Jackson County was safe was the only thing that kept her mind off of Joel.

After a while of riding horseback up the back mountains and trails, she reached one of the patrol rest spots, making sure to write in her sightings and name in the sign-in book before wandering around the old abandoned and overgrown lodge. Ellie allowed herself to place down her bow, shotgun and her pistol down on one of the couches, deciding to clean them out thoroughly before she returned to her horse and left for the next post.

It was peaceful. Being alone and watching the breeze brush through the overgrowth in every area. She set her backpack down and ventured off through the lodge, looking in every nook and cranny for something she may have missed the last time. As usual, her search around the outpost gave her nothing new, other than an old comic book from the pre-outbreak days. Jesse must have left it there on his last patrol, he was obsessed with anything and everything he could find about superheroes.

Ellie opened a few of the windows to let herself get some fresh air. The pathway to the lodge was dried up and there were visible cracks in the concrete mixed with the sandy grass and dead bushes, and she could just barely see her horse, Shimmer, tied up around the corner of the walls. To anyone who had lived before the outbreak, it would be a sad sight to see, all of the plants and overgrowth turned brown because of the horribly hot summers, but to everyone else, it was better than having no place to stay at all.

A rustling from the bushes outside sparked Ellie's immediate instinct, and she grabbed out her pistol, stalking outside the back door very carefully, her sneakers stepping onto the old dried up pathway she used to arrive at the lodge. What if it was a WLF? Or an infected? An infected was the least of her worries, but she knew that the WLF had made their way from Seattle to all other parts of what once was the United States, so she kept a mind out for someone who could pack much more than a punch.

"Fuck!" A feminine voice exclaimed. A girl came out of the bushes, she looked around Ellie's age. But, from personal experience, Ellie knew that anyone could be a maniac and have the skill to snap her neck with one move. The girl noticed Ellie suddenly, a face of shock and worry on her face as she noticed the gun in front of her, pointed straight at her head.

"I'll blow your brains out if you don't tell me why you're at this post." Ellie spoke, breathing heavily in and out. She scanned the girl in front of her. She wore a green t-shirt and some tactical equipment with cargo pants. Scars were ridden all over her arms, and some even travelled to her face.

"Look, my name is Willow Green. I'm not infected." She spoke, holding her hands up slowly and standing up straight. Her voice was staggered, and only then did Ellie notice the rope burns scarred and red that laid on her wrists. Ellie shook her head and looked down at Willow, her eyes boring into her skull as if they were telling her to get a move on. "Catalina Island. There's a crazy freak cult there and I was captured for around a month. I escaped and raided a few camps, I spotted this lodge, came up and was just looking for supplies." She explained, taking a large breathe in between every few words. "Please, I swear to god I'm not infected."

"Scars?" Ellie asked.

"No, Rattlers. They operate on the coast of California and take their prisoners and imprison them on the nearby island. It's psychotic." Willow spoke, placing her hands down slowly as Ellie's face turned into one of skepticism, placing her gun back in her thigh holster.

"How the hell did you manage to walk all the way from California to Jackson County?" Ellie asked, still standing up straight and holding her hand on her gun, just in case whoever this 'Willow Green' character was began to turn hostile towards her.

The girl sighed. "To be honest, I don't know." Her eyes drooped, the large bags under her eyes evident of the lack of sleep she had gotten during her fifteen-day travel to wherever she had ended up. "There's more camps then you'd think with independent people. The WLF aren't very spread out yet, so it was easy to just grab some stuff from some buildings whilst they were out patrolling the area."

Ellie's eyes softened a bit. This chick had gone through _hell._ "Can you just prove to me that you're not infected? I can probably get you hooked up with some water and food for your travels." She stated. Willow nodded, letting Ellie take a look at her exposed skin. No bubbling, no bite marks, just deep, wounded scars and some bleeding wounds and bandages wrapped around her skin.

"Jackson doesn't let just anybody in, so you'll probably have to get scanned once or twice by one of the townsfolk, Maria." Willow nodded, sighing in relief. Her lips were chapped to hell and her skin was sunken and pale. It seemed like she hadn't eaten in days. "The hill's too steep to scale down if we want to get to town by noon."

"Alright, then what do you suppose we do?" Willow asked, her eyes bloodshot and her nails barely even stubs. Ellie glanced over to her horse, Shimmer. She had been her trusty steed ever since she got to Jackson County, and it never failed to let Ellie down.

"She can fit around two people. We should be able to get down in ten minutes tops." She explained, walking on the dried-up path and petting Shimmer.

Willow walked over as well, stroking her hand up and down the gorgeous horse's nose. It would've made travelling _a lot_ easier if she had snagged one of the Rattler's horses on her way out. "Sounds good to me." She smiled. "Well, really about anything sounds good to me right about now."

"I'm Ellie by the way." The girl smiled tightly, shaking Willow's hand. "If you wanna get some of your cuts looked at, I can take you to Claire's, she's one of the doctors in Jackson."

Willow shook her head. "These'll heal up fine. I have a few stray bandages in my bag from some old abandoned camps I raided." She stated, pulling her foot in Shimmer's stirrup and hoisting herself up onto the saddle. "You'd be surprised at how much stuff they leave behind. It's like they were rich or something."

Ellie snorted, lifting up onto Shimmer's saddle and sitting in front of Willow, grabbing a hold of the reins and turning around onto the path that led to Jackson County. "Yeah, people are pretty fuckin' stupid nowadays."

"You got that right."


	3. ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴꜰᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴏ  
ɪ'ᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴꜰᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

After a while of walking and the sun boring onto Willow and Ellie's backs, they caught a glimpse of Jackson's high security walls. Out of all the bases the young girl had seen over the weeks she had been walking, there was nothing as intricate as Jackson. It had _power,_ making it easy to keep everything out and everything in. It looked like it was like a safe haven of the apocalypse. Thankfully, large organizations and cults didn't know about Jackson County. It was too far away from any of their mass bases.

"Well, here we are." Ellie announced, letting Shimmer stray just enough away from the giant metal gates. "The guards know me, but they'll wanna do a search on you, okay?"

Willow nodded, anything would be better than walking on foot for another two weeks. They slumped off of the horse at the gates, letting Willow be scanned quickly for any bites. Her bag was rummaged through, but all they found was a broken pistol, an old Firefly pendant and a few empty boxes of ammunition.

"Who is this?" One of them asked Ellie.

"She was with a cult off the coast of Cali." She replied. "I'm thinking she can tell us where they are."

The guard nodded, letting Willow go after making sure she had no signs of infection. Ellie led Shimmer and the girl next to her in through the gates, stopping at the stables to let the horse join the others.

"Okay, so we're gonna go to Maria and Tommy first. They kind of run this place." Ellie stated, walking alongside Willow through the streets of Jackson. "They can help you get a temporary place, and they'll want some details on the Rattlers, if you're okay with talking about it."

Willow nodded lightly. "Yeah, sure. Sounds good."

"Can I ask why you have that Firefly pendant?" Ellie asked.

"It was my mom's." Willow replied, pulling the chain out of her backpack and running her scarred fingers over the cold metal. "She died during the whole attack from FEDRA back in Boston way back when."

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't be." Willow interrupted. "It was a long time ago. I was just a kid, anyway. I can't really remember her all that well."

Ellie nodded, opting to stay silent. She wasn't the best at comforting people, and in an effort towards making the conversation stay at a certain level of comfortability, she didn't talk. Instead, she led Willow silently towards Maria and Tommy's house, knocking on the door.

Maria opened the door, smiling at first but then spotting an unfamiliar face next to Ellie. The older woman immediately dragged the two inside, shutting the door.

"Who is this?" She asked, a concerned look on her face.

"She isn't a WLF-"

"How do you know that?" Maria accused. "We've had too many close calls recently. You know that." She stated, a harsh tone in her voice.

Ellie sighed. "Look, she can give us information on a new possible threat coming in from the coast." She explained. " _She's_ not a threat."

"And how do you know thisinformation?" Maria turned over to Willow, her gaze not softening for even a moment.

"What do you think?" Willow rebutted, coming off across ruder than she had wanted. "I was captured a while ago and somehow made my way here."

Maria sighed. "Where are your parents?" She asked, placing her hand across her forehead. If anything, they couldn't afford another potential breach. Maria knew that people were after Tommy and Joel for the stunt the latter pulled with the Fireflies, Jackson didn't need more people watching them for a weakness.

"They were Fireflies. My mom was killed by FEDRA shortly after I was born. She was a threat because she was one of the only ones left after the whole hospital fiasco." Willow explained, stunning Maria. The older woman wasn't expecting an answer, really. "My dad was also a Firefly, but he died trying to protect the 'cure'." She spoke, using quotation marks for the word 'cure'. Truly, she didn't know that the 'cure' was standing next to her.

"Where are you planning to head?" Maria asked, steering clear of the conversation of Fireflies in general. It was a sore topic for everyone.

"I have no clue." Willow responded, playing with her fingers a bit as she talked. "Seattle, maybe? I heard there's some old Firefly descendants there trying to figure out a cure."

Maria shook her head. "I wouldn't advise going there now. They'll know you were in Jackson, and most Firefly daughters and sons don't have a great history with some of the residents."

Willow tilted her eyebrow in confusion but decided not to pry. It wasn't her business, she just arrived, for Pete's sake. "Then I'm probably going to head towards Texas. My parents lived there before they became Fireflies, I'm guessing that some old family friends could be possibly still living there."

"I wouldn't count on it." Maria replied pessimistically. "It is a twenty-day trip."

"I've walked for longer."

The older woman nodded, looking from Ellie back towards Willow. "Okay, well now that you have a plan, you can stay overnight in Jackson for as long as you like, as long as you draw everything you know out on this map." Maria stated, placing a large map of the United States on the table.

"Can she get some medical attention first, at least?" Ellie asked, standing up for the girl beside her.

Maria sighed. "Of course. Just- take her to Claire's and then immediately bring her back here."

Ellie nodded to the side, walking out of Maria and Tommy's house with Willow by her side and following. The silence bringing them together. For once, Ellie enjoyed the silence. It was comfortable, and her body wasn't calling at her to cut through it and speak.

It was a nice change.


	4. ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ?

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ  
ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ?

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Willow's body ached as Claire- the doctor in Jackson- patched her wounds. Ellie was surprised that the girl had been able to survive the walk to the town. Everything seemed to be wrong. She had hundreds of scars from bad burns littered over her arms, deep and dark gashes that nearly touched the bone of her thighs, Ellie could barely keep count. She stood in the corner of the medical room, watching as Claire finished cleaning Willow's last wound. She had already stitched the large cut up, it just needed to be disinfected and Willow would be ready to get up and walk painless again. Of course, it would take a bit of time for her wounds to mend completely, but it was better than her body aching every step she took.

Claire smiled at her work, placing the bottle of alcohol back down on her side table. She wheeled her chair back, taking a final look-over at Willow before nodding her head. "Okay, you can go now. It'll take a while to heal, so I'd suggest staying in Jackson until that happens." She advised. The young girl nodded, even though it wasn't her first choice, staying in the small town was better than going out on her own again. Her plan was to go find the remaining Fireflies, they had to be somewhere.

"Thanks, miss." Willow smiled gratefully, standing up off of the medical bed slowly.

Ellie stayed against the wall awkwardly, pushing herself off of it and meeting Willow in the middle of the room. The brown-haired girl was always quite awkward, and she fiddled with her hands as she looked back up to the person across from her. "You ready to go see Maria again?" She asked. Ellie opened up the door, revealing the warm-looking summer in Jackson.

Willow nodded curtly. "Yeah." She spoke. They walked out through the pathways, winding around the neighborhoods and avoiding the gaze of the townsfolk. Ellie knew she'd have to talk to Joel about the girl she had found at some point but avoiding him and the conversation that was to come was the best option for her pride.

Maria was standing outside of her and Tommy's house, and she opened the door and waved the two girls inside. Willow looked at the large table in the center, brushing her hands against the rough and uncut wood as she stood against it. Ellie stood beside her and the older women stood across the table from them. A large map of the United States was brushed across the table, and a red pen was placed on top of it.

"Where are they?" Maria asked. Ellie rolled her eyes, could Willow not get one minute of hospitality before she was bartered? Nevertheless, the younger teenager took the red pen, popping the cap off and looking across the map. It was an old piece of parchment, and instead of simple cities and states, it was labeled with groups that they knew the locations of.

The teenager pointed towards Catalina Island, circling it in red. "This is the Rattler's secondary island. It isn't their main base, but this is where they have most of their captors hanging on the beach." Willow explained, moving her finger across the map towards the coast of California. " _This_ is their main base. Its where they keep their prisoners before they move them out to the island. It's very heavily guarded because only the elite members know where it is and have access to it."

"And how do you know about it?" Maria inquired.

"Nobody escapes from Catalina Island, _nobody_." Willow replied, looking up at the older woman. "So, they're free to spill any of their secrets around the prisoners. Including me." She circled the camp and moved onto the coast of Texas, looking closer to the map and circling over where Brazoria County use to stand. "They have another base here, including a secondary island. But it's not as populated as the one in California. It's just off the coast of New Orleans, the main base is in Texas.

Ellie looked at the map, each label making her furrow her eyebrows further. Willow moved her gaze up to Seattle, labelling another spot. "There's rumours of the new generation of Fireflies staying here, and that's where I was headed- but there's no telling if they're really there or not." The older teenager's stomach twisted, she was headed towards the Fireflies? She was headed for the W.L.F.? Then she had to know what Joel looked like, she'd probably be after him.

"I thought you were on your way to Texas." Maria replied, skeptical of the young girl's sudden change in plans.

"Well, now that I know I'm Wyoming, that plan is kind of shattered." Willow explained. "And besides, I can't really go anywhere." She shrugged. Ellie nodded, lips pursed in thought. Would she be mad at Joel? She sounded relaxed when Willow talked about the hospital incident, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't seek him out.

Maria looked down to the map, the large, red circles pointing towards potential enemy camps. She was pleasantly surprised by the girl. Albeit, she was still skeptical of Willow, just randomly showing up in an enclosed town- but she was obviously helpful. "You two should scout out the Seattle area." The older woman instructed.

The older teen looked bewildered. Willow was still hurt, Claire said it herself- it'd take a long time to heal! "But her leg-"

"I'll be fine." Willow smiled to Ellie. "I don't know exactly where the stadium base is. We can probably make it a week's trip. Three days to travel, a few days to scout out the area and try to find the base and get back in another three days." She explained, perfectly planning out their trip.

"If you two don't scout this place out, Ellie, the W.L.F. could easily come for us." Maria stated, looking sternly towards the older teenager. "You leave tomorrow. Willow can stay at your place for the night, get her situated and ready."

Without protest, Ellie nodded. She gestured Willow out the door with her head, waving goodbye to Maria before walking out into the hot sun.


	5. ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇꜱ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀ**   
**ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇꜱ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

"This is it." Ellie sighed, closing the door to her small home in Jackson. She moved out from Joel's house a while ago, but she still hadn't completely moved into her own house. A few boxes were still strewn around the living room, packed with space books and old music CDs. It was a small house- only one floor and bedroom- but it worked.

Willow looked around, the messy space seeming like heaven to her. She hadn't slept in a house for a long time, it was quite foreign to her. She took off her shoes, letting her sock-clad feet accept the warm, fuzzy carpet on the wooden flooring. "This is a nice house." She exclaimed, looking around. There was something on each wall, whether it was children's paintings, a polaroid, or proper art, there was always something covering the wallpaper.

Ellie shrugged. "It's enough for one person." She softly smiled, looking over to the living room. She still didn't have a couch, which would be an issue. "Are you okay with sleeping on the floor?" Ellie asked, turning back over to Willow.

The younger teenager nodded, scratching at the small stitches healing on her cheek. "I'm used to it, I'll be fine." She replied. Ellie smiled in reply, disappearing through one of the corridors in her house.

Willow took the time to explore around the small home. She started in the kitchen, scanning over all of the granite countertops. As with the other rooms, it was quite small. It had a tiny island in the middle, with the rest of the cabinets pressed up against the wall. A bit of afternoon light shone through the closed drapes, creating an almost foggy atmosphere.

There was a photo frame, tipped downwards on the counter. Curiously, Willow pulled it up, looking at the photo. It was an older man- maybe in his fifties- hugging Ellie. She looked quite a bit younger than she did, and Willow could only wonder why she had the photo facing downwards. A Firefly pendant was placed next to it, the words _Anna Williams_ engraved on it.

Not wanting to dig too much, Willow placed the photo and pendant back down on the counter where it was before. Ellie hadn't come out of the hallway yet, so she walked over to the living room and looked at the photo frames littering the walls.

One was her and another boy, they were playing in the snow. Another was him and her again, but in a bigger group of people. They all seemed the same age. One girl had black hair, pulled into a ponytail and covered in the white dust. Ellie was there, and another girl with tattoos covering every inch of her skin.

Ellie finally emerged from the corridor, holding an old, run-down mattress in her arms. She put it down, pushing the coffee table to the side of the wall and replacing it with the mattress. "That'll work." She sighed, looking over to Willow. She had been looking over some of the vintage CDs that were lined up on her television console table.

"Woah, you have _Four Pathways?_ " The girl asked, astounded as she pulled out one of their albums. She held onto it lightly, as if she were afraid to damage it.

The older teenager nodded, walking over to stand beside Willow. "Yeah, Jo-" She paused. "One of my friends gave it to me." Ellie replied, picking out a few more of the band's albums. With the amount of music she had, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack. "You like their music?"

"Well- I haven't listened to it in a while." Willow replied, looking longingly at the disc. "But they used to have a bunch at the old Firefly labs, and my dad would play them for me." It had been so long since she had seen anyone her age, words were flying out of her mouth.

Ellie, on the other hand, was entranced by the younger teenager. Butterflies and admiration were bubbling up in her stomach. Willow had been through so much. The feeling of Joel's argument with Ellie still lingered, but it felt completely pushed down by the other teen's presence.

"Shit, what time is it?" Ellie asked herself, looking out the window. Some sun was still pouring through the sheer drapes. She looked over to the clock hanging on the wall, it was almost four. "Do you want something to eat?" She asked Willow.

"That sounds amazing." She replied, breathing in relief at the sound of food.

"Is there in particular that you'd like?" Ellie inquired, walking over to the tiled kitchen floor and opening her fridge. Tommy and Maria had lost power a few times in the last week, so nothing was completely cold, but it was better than room temperature.

"Anything, really." Willow sighed, her mouth watering at the sight of an almost-full fridge. There were a few packs of beer, some Chinese food, and a roast chicken.

Ellie dug around her cupboards until she fished out a few packs of leftovers. A chicken sandwich would do just fine. Some of the townsfolk had gone to a big dinner party a few days back, and Tommy brought her back some of the chicken. It was a bit old, but it was better than eating nothing.

Willow seemed to agree as they sat down at the island and dug in. Ellie smiled as the younger teenager ate like she hadn't in years. Well, she probably hadn't eaten in a long time, it wasn't surprising. The Rattlers didn't seem like nice people by a long shot, why would they bother feeding their prisoners good food?

The two girls sat in a comfortable silence until the sun peeking through the drapes had disappeared, leaving Ellie and Willow in the light from the overhead lamp. It was quite dim, but they could still make out each other's faces.

Ellie looked up at Willow, frowning a bit. "We should sleep. A trip to Seattle isn't the easiest." She proposed, slipping off of the barstool and pushing it back against the cabinet.

"Yeah, that's a good plan." The younger teenager smiled, walking over to the living area. Ellie had already set up her mattress for the night. A mash of pillows and blankets were tossed over it, making it an alright place to sleep. Well, for Willow, it was amazing.

"I'll be down the hall if you need anything." Ellie offered, waving before walking down the corridor. The other teenager sat in the darkness, the only light coming from the alarm clock on the TV console. She hadn't slept properly in a long time, and it took its toll on her as her eyes stayed wide open.

She doubted she'd be sleeping that night.

✧✧✧

Ellie's eyes flickered open abruptly, her head still against the pillow as she felt her breathing levels elevate higher and higher. Just a nightmare. She sighed, rubbing her eyes and turning on her back. There had been a lot of those plaguing her mind lately. Maybe it was some kind of sign? No, she couldn't be ridiculous. She turned back on her side, looking at the clock hanging on the wall.

Just past one.

Fuck.

She sat up on her bed, still wearing a gray sweater and a pair of pajama pants. Ellie didn't want to wake Willow, so she opened the door to her bedroom as quietly as possible. But, when she got to the living room, she spotted the younger girl already awake. Her backpack was open beside her, and she was reading an old book with a flashlight.

"Can't sleep?" Ellie asked, rubbing her green eyes again.

Willow shook her head. "You'd think you'd sleep like a baby after sleeping on dirt for the last few weeks." She joked, folding the side of the page down and shutting the book. Bookmarks weren't very common anymore.

"God, when I got to Jackson, I couldn't sleep for weeks." Ellie replied, sighing. She didn't even realize the words that had come out of her mouth. Why was she opening up to this strange girl? She was leaving in a few weeks, anyway. There was no point. "Sorry- I don't wanna load my life story onto you." Ellie frowned, sitting down beside Willow.

"I've got all the time in the world." The younger teen smiled. "And besides, I'll most likely forget all of it in like- a day. I have the worst memory." She laughed a bit.

Ellie looked at her in confusion before shrugging, laying down on the floor face-up. Willow did the same, her head inches away from the other's. She _was_ leaving soon, and they were going to be spending a whole week together. It didn't seem like she was working undercover for anyone, maybe it was time to let her guard down. Just a little.

"I used to live in a Q.Z." Ellie began.

"Really?"

"Yeah." She replied. "It's not exactly everything it's cracked up to be." Ellie picked her nails, still avoiding Willow's gaze by looking towards the ceiling. "What about you?"

"Well, of course, I grew up with the Fireflies, but most of my childhood was just running from FEDRA and their need to stop everyone." Willow answered, sighing and leaving her mouth open a bit. "It's crazy how fast the world was immediately taken over by corrupt governments."

Ellie nodded. "I can't imagine the WLF is any different."

"It's the only way I can think of, I need to find what's left of the Fireflies." Willow frowned.

Finally, the older teen turned to the younger one, her whole body shifting under the weight of her shoulder. "What happened?" Ellie asked. She knew what had gone on in the hospital to an extent, but of course, she was stubborn and never wished to know more from Joel himself. Plus, she was completely unconscious when it happened, there was no way she could've known.

"My dad was in the hospital when the cure was being made. I don't know what it was, but that guy really wanted to protect it." Willow sighed. "I found out around an hour later when one of the doctors came back to the secondary base with the news that Marlene was dead in the parking lot."

Ellie opened her mouth agape a bit, her eyes blinking slowly. "Do you- do you hold any hatred towards the smuggler?" She asked, internally wondering if Willow was truly a danger towards her and Joel.

The younger girl shrugged. "It's been so long, I don't think anyone can blame them anymore." She replied whole-heartedly. Ellie let out a small breath of relief. "If they truly needed what they were protecting, I think it must've come from some place of love."

"Yeah, yeah I guess you're right." Ellie turned on her back again, looking at the popcorn ceiling above her. She remembered all the times that Joel would get her birthday balloons, only for them to bust from the textured ceiling.

Both of them fell into a comfortable silence, still laying beside each other in deep thought. Neither of them could tell which one fell asleep first that night.


	6. ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰɪᴠᴇ  
** **ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Ellie woke up abruptly, her back making itself known as it ached badly. She sat up, stretching and yawning before looking beside herself again. Willow's breath was evening out slowly, and she looked almost peaceful. It was nice to have someone to go to after a full evening of nightmares, and after Joel's fight- she had nobody to go to. But Willow- she made her feel like all of those nightmares wouldn't matter, like they would never come back.

The younger girl's eyes batted open, consciousness returning to her body as she sat up beside Ellie, yawning deeply and scratching her neck. Her ragged nails made deep marks in her skin, blood rushing to the top of the veins. Willow looked over to her travel partner, smiling wonkily as her body slowly woke up from a long night's rest. It was already six in the morning, they'd have to leave soon.

Willow looked to Ellie, standing up and stretching out her legs. "When do we leave?" She asked, hoisting her backpack over her shoulders. She used her fingers to brush out her semi-matted hair, sighing in defeat before grabbing an elastic band and tying it into a ponytail.

"Preferably, now." Ellie replied.

After a few moments of nodding and silence, the older teen left down the corridor, shutting the door behind her room and locking it. She took a deep breath, rubbing her eyes. It had been a long time since she had talked to anyone about the hospital incident, it almost felt freeing. Ellie continued to dwell on that as she gazed through her closet. She had a few changes of clothes in her travel backpack, but she needed something to wear for the ride.

A simple grey flannel and a t-shirt would do. It was summer, so she didn't have to worry about the cold, but if she ran out of bandages, the flannel would be the second option.

Ellie quickly changed and grabbed her backpack, walking back towards where Willow was. Once again, she was looking over one of the music collections she had from Joel. Many records were stacked on top of the wall shelves, ranging from old country to rock and roll.

"This stuff is ancient." Willow remarked, gazing at one of the old _Adventure_ albums. It was from the 1990s, almost 40 years prior.

"Yeah, I got a lot of stuff when I moved here." Ellie replied, grabbing a few bottles of water and non-perishable foods and placing them in her backpack. Whatever they could find before the trip would be useful. No matter what it was.

Ellie opened the door, revealing her front porch. Willow followed close behind as they walked through Jackson once again, spotting Maria and Tommy at the front gates with two horses in their hold. The two adults approached the two teenagers, handing the reins off to each of them.

Tommy looked over Willow for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing. "You are...?"

"Wait- you're Tommy Miller, aren't you?" She asked, not bothering to answer his own question.

"Yeah...?"

"My parents were with the Fireflies." Willow spoke. "I'm Willow Green."

"That name doesn't ring a bell."

"You probably quit before my parents got a hold of you." Willow remarked.

Maria cleared her throat. Loudly. "You two need to get going, if you want to find any forms of life and shelter before nightfall." She stated, her authority and voice strong.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, do you want us to hit any patrols on the way?" She asked.

Tommy shook his head slowly, looking down at the ground. "Jesse's already on it."

The two girls got on their horses, backpacks firmly strapped to their backs as they grabbed on tight to the reins. It would be a miracle if they could make it back out from the WLF with both horses intact and alive.

"Joel knows, by the way." Tommy stated.

Ellie rolled her eyes, and Willow immediately became curious to who the mystery man was. "I'm sure he told you not to let me go." She assumed. She knew Joel's moves, it would only be on-brand for him to say something like that.

"Surprisingly, no." The older man replied, making Ellie's eyebrows furrow. "He thought it'd be good to go out and get some space."

The teenager only sighed. "I'll see you in a week."

With that, the two girls let the gate of Jackson open in front of them, signaling that their journey to Seattle had only just begun.


	7. ꜱʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱɪx**   
**ꜱʜᴇʟᴛᴇʀ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

After days of riding on horses and close calls with infected, the big, overgrown skyscrapers soon came into view. Ellie and Willow smiled as the blaring sun soon became covered by the buildings, relieving the girls from the heat. Some of the towers had leant over each other due to the explosions of the Quarantine Zones over the years, it had just shown how much the world had changed. Ellie blamed herself for most of it, but she needed to keep a clear head if they wanted to find somewhere to stay before sundown.

“What time is it?” Willow asked, leaning back on her horse a bit. They were both tired, and the sky was slowly turning orange above them. If they could take some form of shelter, they would be relieved of the heat and their exhaustion.

“I’m gonna guess its around three in the afternoon.” Ellie replied. Willow nodded, continuing to lead her horse beside the older teenager. They soon turned onto the road, or what was left of it. Most of it was cracked underneath itself and had caved into the ground.

Soon, the two were surrounded by the tall skyscrapers, the sun only poking through and brushing their skin when there was a break in the blocks. Staying in one of the tall buildings wouldn’t be the best move, it could collapse at any minute. Ellie continued looking around as she let her horse follow Willow’s, trying to spot anywhere they could stay. Nothing was coming up, and the two girls’ eyes were beginning to droop under their lashes.

Ellie’s eyes trailed over to an old, run-down hotel. It looked like it could’ve been fit to house royalty back in the day. “Think we could camp out there?” She asked, turning to Willow. The younger girl turned her head over, pulling against the horse’s reins and slowing to a stop.

“Looks pretty in-tact.” Willow replied. Her voice was strained from the lack of water she had drunken over the past few days, she prayed that there would be some type of water source in the hotel. “We’d have to clear most of it out, though. Looks like a hotspot for infected.” She remarked, rolling her shoulders back and trying to relieve them of the pain from her backpack straps. She had a lot packed in it, her arms felt like they were bruising from the weight.

“We’ve got a bit of time before sundown, anyway.” Ellie spoke hoarsely, shrugging. “It’ll be a nice way to kill time, anyway.”

“Killing infected, how romantic.” Willow stated sarcastically, turning her horse towards the hotel. “Let’s hitch them out here, we can bring them in once the area is secured.” She proposed smartly. Ellie nodded, both leading their horses towards one of the alleyways. If any stray WLF members saw two saddled horses standing in the street, they’d immediately know that someone was there to scout out the area- or do worse.

The two girls got off their horses, Ellie handed Willow the reins and let her hitch the animals around an old bike rack. It wasn’t ideal, but it’d have to work. They looked around the hotel for a minute before finding a back door in, slipping through a few pieces of rubble. The main room looked clear, chandelier crystals and old candles covering the floors. Red carpet was barely its once vibrant color, it had turned an ugly brown, some moss still growing through the cracks of the fabric.

Stairs led up from the front door over to the old, unusable elevators. Ellie guessed there was maybe ten to twenty floors, but they were most likely blocked off by timeless rubble. Willow gazed at an old convenience station, old, molded baked goods and coffee cups littered over the countertops. She walked over, resting her stomach over the cabinets. Ellie watched as her newfound friend looked over all of the utensils scattered around. It was a glimpse into what life was like before- _everything_.

Willow turned back around, watching the older teen as she gestured her head towards the grand staircase. “We should check the second floor and block all other exits. We can stay in one of the rooms up there.” Ellie looked back towards the other girl, cracking her neck and grabbing her gun out of her thigh holster. It was strapped against her jeans, even though they hadn’t come across any non-infected enemies yet.

“Sounds good.” Willow replied, rummaging through her backpack and grabbing out her own brandished and shiny handgun. Ellie watched as she loaded it with ammo before turning towards the staircase, taking a few steps on the marble steps. Her sneaker-clad feet made a muffled clicking noise against the cold metal, but it wasn’t as loud as it would be if she were wearing something like high heels. God, she was revolted by even the thought of wearing those kinds of feet-killers.

The two began their journey through the hotel, walking up the stairs and towards the upper floors. It was practically a maze, with walls blocking their every exit. The hallways were winding and endless, the soft carpet becoming a haven to their sore feet. Crème paint covered the walls, but it had molded and ripped into a darker brown colour over the years. Surprisingly, there were no signs of infected through the corridors of the first floor.

Ellie looked behind her and Willow for a moment before turning back forward, standing still at the end of the first-floor hallway. “The WLF must’ve already cleared this place out.” She stated, looking onto the ceiling with her flashlight. It was completely cracked from water damage, a few drops of the flooding of Seattle pattering on the girl’s heads.

“That’s good.” Willow exclaimed, pushing one of the hotel room doors open slowly. “I don’t know about you, but I could sleep right now.” She grinned, walking into the room. Ellie followed shortly behind, looking over the suite.

They could tell that it once was a luxurious building. There were golden accents lacing the desks and windows that had been spared by the outbreak, and the beds looked like they were marshmallows. Ellie was thankful they had decided to camp out in the hotel. She hadn’t had gotten a proper sleep in a while and being that far away from Jackson and Joel would probably help. Willow jumped onto one of the beds, a waft of dust following her movements and making her cough.

The older teen smiled a bit, taking off her backpack and relieving her shoulders from the harsh weight of her supplies. Ellie quickly dug through her bag, grabbing out her hot plate and a few cans of non-perishable foods. She set them down on the floor, unwrapping the long electrical cord and plugging it into one of the sockets. As suspected, the hot plate didn’t even make an effort to turn on. No electricity, as usual.

Ellie stood back up, brushing her pants off and looking over to the bed. Willow had left the bed and migrated out onto the balcony that was separated from the room by large glass sliding doors. The older teenager opened them, standing on the balcony with Willow. They both let their stomachs press against the fencing, relishing in the rare wind whipping against their cheeks. It was raining lightly, relieving the heat that had covered the city earlier in the day.

A few minutes passed, and Ellie looked over to Willow. The younger girl’s hair was drenched with rainwater, her face shining with droplets. Her skin was relatively clear, but as Ellie looked at her upturned face, she could almost count all the little freckles that dusted her cheeks and nose. Willow continued to look up at the sky, her eyelids fluttering open and shut as rain fell onto her eyelashes. The clouds in the sky created a perfect shade from the sun, and it was a moment of peace.

Willow turned around, looking back up at the building. The third or fourth floor was completely ripped open and caved in, revealing a few of the rooms from the outside. Ellie looked over the brick, seeing a few places she could climb up. It was risky, due to the age and health of the building, but if they made it to the roof, they would be able to get a vantage point from the WLF. And maybe some electricity if they could find some.

The younger teen turned to Ellie. “Electricity box is probably up there.” She stated, almost reading the other girl’s mind. Willow pointed up to the roof area, squinting her eyes from the fog that had built up from the rain. “If we can get to it, we’ll be eating good for the night.”

Ellie chuckled, wiping the rainwater off her hands in an attempt to dry them off. “Well, we should get up there before it gets too dark.” She replied, looking behind her to see the sun looming dangerously behind some of the trees. The sky was beginning to turn pink, as well.

Willow took the first stretch and planted her foot onto a loose brick, letting her hand grasp onto another one before pulling herself up. It was slippery, but it would make do. She let her foot plant itself on the brick beside her hand before moving her other arm, trying to hold onto another few pieces of wall. She managed to pull herself up again a few more times, and she pulled herself to the side, looking at the large, gaping hole in the hotel. Willow pushed herself off the bricks and let her hands grip onto the flooring of one of the rooms, her legs dangling onto the large drop below.

She pulled herself into the hole and breathed heavily, a sigh of relief leaving her lips as she placed her hands on her knees. Ellie had pulled herself up a few moments after, her feet landing on the soft moss that had covered the tiling over time. They regrouped and looked around the long, winding corridor to a roof access, if there was one. Ellie walked down one end of the hall, splitting up from Willow for a few minutes.

The sounds of runners whining came echoing through the hotel. Ellie looked behind her and pulled her gun out from her thigh holster. Willow wasn’t anywhere near her. She looked through one of the big, golden archways, seeing an old restaurant inside. A few runners had made their nesting inside of it, and they were roaming around the white-cloth tables. Two dead bodies were pushed against one of the walls, but Ellie paid no attention to it as she rolled into the room.

“Shit.” She muttered, holding her gun up to the sky as she took cover behind one of the tables. One of the runner’s footsteps could be heard dangerously close towards her. Ellie took her chance and wrapped her arm around its neck, pulling it to the ground and choking it without letting it make a sound. She glanced around quickly and snuck down to another table. Her eyes widened as one of the runners came at her, looking straight at her. Ellie sighed, clicking the safety off of her gun and taking a shot at its head.

The runner fell to the ground. The gunshot from her gun only attracted the other infected, though. Ellie whipped her head around to see four charging at her, she managed to shoot down two but the others had made it too close to her. Ellie winced and prepared for the weight of them tackling her to the ground, but it never came. It was replaced with two loud shots. She opened her eyes to see the runners dead on the floor, gunshot wounds dripping with blood on their foreheads.

Ellie looked back to the entrance to see Willow, who was standing in the archway, hair and face completely drenched with sweat. The younger teen held her gun, her hands trembling lightly as she shrugged. “Came across a few clickers, thought you might’ve needed some help.” She smirked lightly, almost teasing the older girl.

“I had it under control.” Ellie scoffed, rolling her eyes and putting her gun back in her holster.

“Yeah, okay.” Willow replied as she walked into the room. Her eyes became fixated on the two bodies that were slumped against the other wall. “Talk to me when almost being tackled by two runners is ‘under control’.” She chuckled.

The older teenager only rolled her eyes again as she followed Willow towards the two bodies. They weren’t infected. Blood was spilled on the wall behind them. Ellie looked at their uniforms, their clothing was scarce armor-wise, but their armbands spelled out the letters _WLF._ Two guns were splayed onto the wooden flooring, most likely the weapons that had killed the two soldiers. Ellie grabbed a stray piece of paper up from one of the corpse’s laps, her fingers scratching against the wrinkles.

_‘Ollie. Kam is fucking infected. I know that Robin knows, she’s horrible at keeping secrets, but he bit us, US, OLLIE! His fucking friend. Y’know, Robin had it coming, he didn’t care for her at all. But really? He just had to take out his anger of not getting out of the relationship on us? Please knock some fucking sense into that bitch, Ol’. I bet she let him come here and turn peacefully instead of pulling the fucking trigger like she should have. Now we have to pay the price. Me and Elliot are just gonna end it. Tell Robin to come back here just to see what she did.’_

Ellie shook her head, these guys really had it out for whoever ‘Robin’ was. She looked behind her at the dead runners, they were freshly infected. She guessed that the ‘Kam’ character that one of the WLF members had written about were one of the runners she and Willow had killed. For a moment, Ellie felt bad for the woman who had lost him, but she shook her head. It was her choice to let him turn, apparently, she could face the consequences of seeing him dead.

“God, whoever Ollie is must have seen this letter.” Willow proposed, looking up from the piece of paper and over to Ellie. The older teen furrowed her brows in confusion, almost insisting that the other girl continued with her theory. Willow pointed over to one of the tables. “There’s a backpack. Fresh stuff, it can’t be the infected’s.” She walked over to where she was pointing, rummaging through the open zipper and showing Ellie the loaded guns.

“Jeez. I almost feel bad for the guy.” Ellie replied, putting the letter in her backpack carefully.

Willow nodded. “Whoever he was.” She shrugged, digging through the backpack and pocketing a few packs of ammo. She stood up fully, letting the bag slump down onto the wooden floorboards as she glanced back over to Ellie. “Now, let’s go find some electricity, shall we?”


	8. ʟᴀᴛᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴀʟᴋꜱ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ  
** **ʟᴀᴛᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴀʟᴋꜱ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

_The young girl's eyes opened. Her hair was pushed back behind her head, and she wore a light blue spotted hospital gown. She couldn't be more than fifteen years old. Her face was deeply freckled, but her eyes shone with confusion as she sat up in the backseat. She looked out the window, her eyebrows furrowing as they passed through the foreign city. Glancing up towards the front seat, the girl saw the driver, an older man who she seemed to know._

_"What the hell am I wearing?" She asked, looking down at the hospital gown that was wrapped around her body. The older man glanced behind him, seeming startled that the girl had woken up so soon. He gazed back at the window in front of him, facing the road with a somewhat solemn look on his face._

_"Just take it easy." He softly spoke, the large, greying beard on his chin making his voice muffled. "The drugs are still wearing off."_

_She looked at the man in confusion, laying back down on her side. The leather of the chair pricked at her cheeks, chilling her body. "What happened?" She inquired._

_The man sighed, his eyebrows furrowing deeply. "We found the Fireflies." He began. "Turns out, there's a whole lot more like you, Ellie. People that are immune." He claimed. The girl's- Ellie's face contorted into one of sadness, maybe even anger. "It's dozens, actually. They ain't done a damn bit of good, either." He looked through the mirror at her. "They've actually st- They've stopped looking for a cure." The man paused. "I'm taking us home."_

_Ellie looked lost, confused, disappointed. She turned around, the back of her hospital gown facing the old man. He let out a breath of what seemed like guilt. "I'm sorry."_

_The girl simply screwed her eyes shut, furrowing her eyebrows and trying to make the nightmare of what had happened that day go away. But nothing seemed to work. A tear slid down her face as she remembered the words that the man had spoken to her._

_There's a whole lot like her._

✧✧✧

Ellie blinked her eyes open, her body sinking into the old and hollow mattress underneath her. It was pitch black in the hotel room, the candle that Willow had lit on the nightside stand had gone out long ago. Speaking of the other girl, she was laying on the bed beside Ellie’s, her body shivering in cold despite the clothes that she was wearing. Due to the constant flooding in Seattle, it was freezing at nighttime, no matter what season it was.

Willow stopped shivering, and Ellie watched as her blurry form sat up against the bedframe. Neither of them could sleep, apparently. The freezing temperatures were absolutely unbearable, and it made Ellie wonder just how comfortable the members of the WLF were living. Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she continued to look out the glass doors that gazed out onto the balcony. The moon was the only form of light that poured into the hotel room, and still, it was barely bright enough to see anything.

“Fuck- it’s so dark.” Ellie exclaimed, sitting up against the ripped pillows. For a room that had been ripped apart by the infection and the wear of the past years, it was pretty luxurious. At least, to the girls it was.

The faint sounds of water crashing below them began to fill the silence, and Willow smiled. She adored the water. “I knew I should’ve stolen that stupid lantern.” She exclaimed, rotating her body and laying back down so her head was at the end of the bed.

Ellie looked at her, furrowing her eyebrows. “What lantern?” She asked.

Willow shrugged. “There was this _really_ fancy lantern I found when I was passing by an old camp. I thought it was abandoned, apparently not.” She scoffed, rubbing her shoulder and wincing as she ran her fingers over a few of the scars that littered her skin.

“What happened?”

The girl scoffed. “I think you can guess.” She replied. “They wouldn’t stop trailing my ass for two whole days.” Ellie looked at her, bewildered. Two whole days? That’s insane. Ellie had gone through worse, but her legs would’ve given out by then, for sure.

“Wow.” The older teen breathed. “That’s impressive.”

“Your turn.” Willow turned over to Ellie, despite not being able to see her. “Give me a fun story.”

“Define ‘fun’.” Ellie scoffed, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. She looked down at her feet for a moment, she couldn’t just tell this girl everything. “I had a run-in with cannibals a few years back. That was pretty crazy.” She revealed, trying not to remember the man’s wretched face. Ellie shivered a bit, almost feeling the machete handle in her hands. It was a memory she would have rather forgotten, but it felt good to speak about it again.

Ellie watched as Willow shuffled and sat up, her legs crossed underneath her. Her entire body had turned over to face Ellie. “Seriously? That’s insane.” She exclaimed in a tone of disbelief. Cannibals were common, but they weren’t exactly good at keeping their locations disclosed. Everyone knew where they were, and how to stay away from them.

“Yeah, they were pretty damn good at catching us.” Ellie winced, immediately regretting using the word ‘us’. Willow tilted her head a bit, furrowing her eyebrows. She shrugged, though. She didn’t want to get into a completely deep conversation. If Ellie wanted to keep something from her, it was completely understandable. They had just met, which was a big reason. And obviously she wasn’t even a resident of Jackson. 

Willow leaned her head back a bit, her eyes screwed shut as she attempted to think of another exciting story to share. She had a lot of them, but none were really as good as Ellie’s cannibal story. “One time, I stole a guitar from these guys, and they were so fucking stupid they didn’t even notice.” She laughed, recalling the memory.

Ellie watched with a small smile gracing her lips as Willow laughed. A guitar, that was pretty cool. She had her own, of course, but whenever she wanted to pick it up, it only reminded her more and more of Joel. Maybe she would give it to Jesse? Or even Willow? She didn’t know yet. All she knew was that she wanted to either get rid of it, or paint over it. Before she knew it, her hand had begun to run against the ink-covered skin on her arm. Maybe she’d recreate her tattoo on the guitar. Yeah. That sounded good.

“Hey, Earth to Ellie?” Willow’s voice snapped her away, causing her head to shoot up and face the other teenager. “You spaced out there for a second.”

“Oh- sorry.” Ellie replied sheepishly. She thought of another story for a moment, her eyes glancing across the walls and ceiling before landing back on Willow. She was eagerly looking at Ellie, awaiting another tale. “This is pathetic, but, when I was fourteen, I spilt chemicals all over my arm.” Ellie lied perfectly, brushing her hands over the acid burn covering her bite mark. “So I got someone to tattoo over it.”

“Chemicals?” Willow scoffed, laughing a bit. “Yeah, that sounds like something a 1950’s housewife would get.”

Ellie chuckled, smiling a bit. She wasn’t wrong. “Yeah, yeah. But c’mon- you gotta give me _some_ credit, I was like- fourteen.” She exclaimed, making Willow laugh a bit more.

The younger teen got up, her feet shuffling across the floor. Ellie’s bed dipped across from her, and she crossed her legs a bit. Her eyes had become adjusted to the darkness, and she could see Willow’s face and body across from her own. Their knees just barely scraped against each other’s, lighting their legs up from the contact. A comfortable silence fell over them as they stayed there, the only sounds crashing over them being the water from below.

A lot of people would wish to be in a moment like that, Ellie included. In a peaceful silence with someone. Willow leant forward, her head pushing against Ellie’s shoulder comfortably. Her hair dropped down, tickling Ellie’s leg just a little bit. They both wished they could’ve experienced what it might have been like before the outbreak. Maybe they would’ve been friends. Things would be very different if Joel had just fucking left her at the hospital-

Willow’s voice stopped Ellie’s thoughts again. “This is nice.” She sighed, her eyes fluttering shut as her head continued to rest against the older teen’s shoulder. The other girl nodded, her body slowly melting into comfort as she relaxed deeper into the mattress. It _was_ nice. Awkwardly, in an attempt to become more comfortable, Ellie held up her hand, placing it against Willow’s head. Her blonde hair felt almost itchy after years of mistreatment, but it brushed against Ellie’s scars beautifully.

The sound of rain pattering against the windows and walls soon mixed with the crashing water below them, creating a warm atmosphere through the freezing hotel room. Willow shivered for a moment, sending a small chill down Ellie’s back. The ripped-up curtains on the outside of the sliding door whipped against the walls, but the noise was drowned out from the fully enclosed room. Ellie could see the scratch marks from infected that littered the curtains, she wanted to memorize everything in the moment.

A loud thump from downstairs echoed through the halls, but Ellie paid no mind to it as she ran her hand through Willow’s hair. The girl was drifting in and out of consciousness, so Ellie quickly repositioned, laying back against the headboard again. Willow’s head was still resting against her shoulder, her eyelashes batting against her skin before her eyes shut. The noise was most likely just a runner, Ellie assumed. They blocked up the entrances to the second floor, they’d be fine.

Ellie leaned to the side a bit, her neck craning as she looked over to the unlit candle placed on the bedside table. The markings on the wood suggested there used to be a lamp sitting on it, and just like she guessed, there was a shattered light crashed onto the floor. It was wedged in between the table and the bed, the lampshade completely ripped and melted open from the ruined light bulb. Willow squirmed a bit, settling back down into a comfortable place against Ellie’s torso.

Their backpacks sat on the end of their beds, Ellie’s donned with all kinds of space pins she had gotten from her life. Willow’s had her parents’ Firefly chains attached to the zippers, which made the other girl’s stomach churn even more. She tried to ignore the feeling- the feeling of knowing that Willow would find out one way or another. Ellie pushed it down, slowing her breathing down and attempting to focus on Willow’s hair as she took a few strands and twirled them around her fingers.

Soon enough, the noise of water crashing against the walls and the rain falling down was enough to get Ellie’s eyelids drooping. She slowly let her head fall to her side, resting gently on Willow’s dirty blonde hair. Ellie’s guard wasn’t completely down, but she chose not to pay attention to the noises of windows breaking and footsteps on the lower level. Her mind drifted off to somewhere safe, and she imagined being in her room in Jackson with Willow.

For once, life on the run was something she wanted again. For her whole life, she had only wished to have something that could closely resemble the old world. But with Willow resting against her in the old hotel, she realized she had the perfect mix.


	9. ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʟᴠᴇꜱ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛ  
** **ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʟᴠᴇꜱ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Willow and Ellie left the hotel in the early morning, their backpacks swaying behind them as they walked down the alleyway where their horses were hitched. The morning sun bored into their backs, reminding them of the heat that was going to announce itself later in the day. The girls got on their horses and gripped onto the reins, setting off and galloping down the Seattle roads that had not flooded yet. Ellie glanced over the skyscrapers as they walked along the overgrown city, trying to find any sign of life.

The two rode for a long time, the unbearable sun shooting through the skyscrapers and onto their bodies. Despite the fact that the skyline was beautiful, the weather brushing against their cheeks and burning their heads was horrifying. Both Willow and Ellie knew they had to push through, or else they would return to Jackson with no information and completely empty-handed. The older teen looked over to the younger one, smiling softly as they walked across the old Q.Z.

A few yells came from one of the skyscrapers. Willow assumed it was a WLF patrol, so she quickly motioned Ellie over into an underground parking garage. Their horses put up a bit of resilience as the smell of gasoline filled their lungs, but the two humans kept them tame, dismounting them against one of the walls. Willow wiped off her pants, trying to listen for any other signs of life besides infected in the building, but nothing came through her ears.

"Think they'll lead us to the stadium?" Ellie asked, cracking her neck and beginning to walk across the pavement. Just like the rest of civilization, it was completely overgrown. Even though it hadn't been used for years, the parking garage still held the heavy scent of gasoline throughout the whole, large room.

Willow shrugged. "Hopefully." She replied shortly. "They'll have maps at their patrol checkpoints, I'm sure of it." She elaborated, Ellie nodding in response.

They walked in a comfortable silence, making sure to stay on edge and alert. A run-in with any members of the WLF would hurt their mission, they needed to get back to Jackson with something. Willow looked at the elevators, running her palms over the old metal. It was still cold, causing a deep shiver to rock through her spine. Ellie motioned her over to the staircase, the door swung open and the hinges completely broken off.

The stairs were old and ruined, but since they were solid and concrete, they didn't waver under the weight of the two girls. As they reached the door to the above-ground floor, they stopped. Ellie pressed her ear against the wood, hearing nothing echoing through the halls. She crouched down just in case, grabbing onto Willow's sleeve and pulling her down beside her. Ellie held her hand on the doorknob, her other hand gripping tightly onto her handgun as she pushed the door open.

In front of them was a large circular room, completely cut off from the rest of the building. It was decked out with a large desk that looked out a large window, showing off the cityscape of Seattle. Willow stood up, walking out into the room. Ellie looked in confusion, had they just stumbled across a WLF checkpoint without even knowing it? There were filing cabinets pressed against the walls, the drawers still pulled out and revealing a whole stock of food and weaponry.

Willow's voice stopped Ellie's curiosity. "Look at this." She exclaimed. Ellie walked over to the desk, the sun from the windows pouring across her body again. Willow held a piece of paper in her hands, and she gave it to the older teenagers.

_'August 6th – It's Ollie and Robin. We got to the checkpoint safely like Isaac advised. Kam's still nowhere to be found. No infected in sight. Scar interference possible.'_

"Shit, that's yesterday." Ellie muttered, looking at Willow with her eyebrows furrowed. The girl simply shrugged in reply, her eyes filled with concern.

"This looks like a popular checkpoint, there's gonna be people after us." Willow stated, placing her two hands on the desk and resting against it. The papers littered across the top of it had been ruffled recently, there was absolutely no dust resting on them. "These have got to be the same people they were talking about in the hotel note." She assumed. After her statement, Willow's eyes suddenly widened as she looked out the window, causing Ellie to follow her train of gaze.

Three large, military-sized vehicles were speeding down the roads of Seattle, patrolling the area. Each one had a WLF sticker on outside of the windows, completely covered in mud. Willow dragged Ellie down behind the desk, peeking their heads out to look at the people down below. Gunshots were being fired from each of the vehicles, only to be stopped by arrows. Ellie watched in confusion as more and more strange-looking people with bows began running out towards the WLF attack.

Willow placed her stomach on the ground, crawling over to the window to get a better look. She held her gun in one of her hands, stabilizing herself with the other. "They'll lead us to the stadium." She spoke, pointing towards the trucks.

Ellie followed her, laying down beside her on the concrete floor and clicking the safety off of her own gun as they talked. "How do we get down there?" She asked.

The younger teen stayed silent for a moment, looking down below the skyscraper. There was a large section of the road that was completely flooded, and the WLF vehicles were on the other side of the bank. Willow thought hard, her mind spinning. If the 'government' saw them, their whole mission could go haywire, and their travels would be worth absolutely nothing. She quickly devised a plan. A risky plan, but if they pulled it off they could easily get to the stadium.

"We jump down to the water." Willow started, pointing down to the flooded area that led behind the buildings. "We get into one of those skyscrapers and follow the trucks down the block." She finished, looking to Ellie.

The older teenager had a bewildered look on her face, her eyebrows furrowed and the skin above her nose wrinkled. "Are you crazy?" She asked. "They'll see us! And that's a sickeningly long jump!" Ellie yelled, motioning crazily with her hands.

"I don't see any other way we can get over there fast enough to catch them." Willow replied seriously, putting her handgun back in her thigh holster. Ellie sighed, standing up as soon as the gunfire ceased between he WLF and the strange other group.

"Fine, fine." She breathed, holding out her hand. Willow grabbed onto it, pulling herself up onto her feet again. They looked out the window, the sounds of bullets leaving guns and wheels scraping against pavement echoing through the streets. Ellie looked around, spotting a pipe beside the desk and picking it up. She took it, bouncing it in her hand a few times before swinging it behind her head and smashing the window. Chunks of glass fell down to the water, splashing against the current.

Willow gulped and looked to Ellie, taking a step forward and holding her head out into the bare air. One more step, and Willow completely disappeared from Ellie's view. Panicked, the older teenager jumped down as well. The breath caught in her throat as her hair whipped out of its high bun, the hot air suddenly turning cold as it pinched against her whole body. She tried not to yell as she screwed her eyes shut, not wanting to look down.

Windows and stories passed her by, and she tried to regulate her breathing before her body hit the freezing cold water. The temperature was a relief to Ellie, but she soon remembered that her lungs needed the sweet release of oxygen. She opened her eyes under the water, using her arms to swim up to the surface, past the debris. Ellie took a large gasp as her face hit the air, coughing a bit as she wiped the water off of her face.

She looked around, seeing Willow's head bob above the ocean current. It was strong, and it was sweeping them down the river towards where they needed to head. Ellie swam towards the other girl, her arms burning with pain as the current took them away. They continued moving, and Willow craned her neck to look over the roads. She spotted their break point, a large dent in the road perfectly made for a quick escape.

Ellie swam over towards the spot, lifting her hand out of the water and ignoring the numbing pain in her legs as she held onto a piece of the rock. Willow reached out for one as well, but her body was swept away from it before she could grab it. Panicking, Ellie grabbed onto her friend's hand, swearing loudly as the water threatened to pull them apart. She pulled her arm back as much as she good, trying to get Willow to come closer to the rock.

After a few moments of pulling and fighting against the current, Willow gasped, grasping onto the rock and pulling her torso out of the water. Her lungs burned and her legs were in desperate pain from kicking against the stream. Ellie pushed herself up, rolling onto the road and landing on her back in relief. She looked over to Willow, who had done the exact same. Both of them were completely drenched in ocean water, but they were laying behind one of the skyscrapers in safety.

Willow sighed, heavily breathing and attempting to shakily stand up. Her feet threatened to give out from underneath her as she wobbled against the road concrete. She continued, though. Ellie saw her struggle and stood up herself, walking over to the girl and holding onto her stomach and back to try and stabilize her. Willow regained her balance and nodded, pushing her back against the large Seattle building and gathering her bearings.

"Jesus, that was so intense." She breathed, holding her hand against her chest and wrapping the other around her backpack strap. Ellie nodded in agreement, squatting down to the ground and standing across from Willow.

The sounds of engines roaring called out to them again, the water draining out of their ears and stopping the constant ringing. Ellie ducked back against the wall where Willow was, looking around the corner and seeing more and more fighting. She looked back to the other girl. "We need to get into these buildings and follow them before they stop." She spoke.

Willow nodded. "Let's go." She replied, looking through one of the windows and jumping in through the broken glass. Ellie followed shortly behind her, and the darkness of the room startled her. They both clicked on their flashlights and kept close to the windows, looking out every once in a while to see the vehicles leading them to the stadium. Or what was _hopefully_ the stadium. Ellie looked at the bookshelves surrounding them, old and dusty comic books scattered around the store.

She paid no mind to the merchandise as they jumped through another set of windows, ducking down in the alleyway and watching as one of the vehicles passed them again. Willow stood up first, taking her leave into another broken window and scratching her hands against the glass. Her palm began to bleed deeply, but she shook it off, forgetting about the searing pain pounding against her hand as they walked through the strange checkpoint.

It looked like it used to be a restaurant, but all of the tables had been flipped over and used to barricade some of the doors and windows. The WLF most definitely used the buildings around them to take cover during patrols, Ellie and Willow must've been lucky to start looking around when they were in the middle of a battle. Broken glasses and ceramic plates were scattered across the floor, and the girls narrowly avoided them. Who knew who else was in the building?

After a while of hopping across buildings, the vehicles turned onto another street. Ellie and Willow ducked down before looking out the window. Directly across from them stood a large building with hundreds of guards standing outside. Military-grade trucks were being loaded and taken out of the Seattle area. It was where the WLF had been hiding out, trying to build a post-apocalyptic empire all on their own. It was the Seattle Stadium.


	10. ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀᴅɪᴜᴍ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɴɪɴᴇ**   
**ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴀᴅɪᴜᴍ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Ellie looked in front of her, mouth agape as she looked over the stadium. It was huge, and it looked like they were running an entire nation inside of it. Propaganda for the WLF was graffitied and plastered all over the walls and windows, making it obvious that the anti-FEDRA operation had taken their stay inside of it. Willow looked around, making sure they both stayed in the shadows as best as possible. They had to get in somehow, they needed intel to get back to Jackson with.

The older teenager motioned Willow over, and they ran out as soon as none of the guards were looking, ducking behind one of the military-grade trucks. There was a door directly beside them that led into the stadium, a sign plastered on it that read _'Sewer Entry'_. Ellie kept her back pressed to the truck as she maneuvered herself over, her feet aching against the road as she reached her hand out towards the doorknob. She grabbed onto it and pushed the door open, letting Willow enter first.

A large staircase led down for what seemed like forever, but you could barely see the break in it that led into the main sewers. Ellie shut the door behind the two girls inconspicuously, beginning the long walk down the concrete stairs with Willow. Their footsteps echoed across the walls and bounced off the ceilings, announcing their presence to anyone that was down in the sewers. Willow and Ellie both silently prayed that they were alone, but the odds were most likely not in their favour.

They made it to the end of the staircase quickly, and they stepped onto a large, wooden flooring that sat above the rushing water. Every step that Willow and Ellie took croaked, the old floor barely standing below them. A large wailing noise came from behind them, and they quickly whipped their heads around, only to face a runner. It took quick notice to the girls, sending panic through Ellie as it ran towards them. She fumbled to grab her gun, but the wooden floor beneath the runner caught her eye.

Each floorboard had cracked, sending itself down deeper into the system. Ellie looked towards Willow, who had a terrified look on her face as the runner inched closer and closer. The infected grasped onto the younger girl's neck, blocking her airway quickly. She struggled against it, her face glowing red as the blood desperately rushed to the top of her body. Her hands jumped up to pry its hands off her neck, but nothing worked. The wooden floor suddenly collapsed under the three's weight, sending them plummeting down into another level of the sewers.

Willow landed down harshly with a grunt, the concrete fall making her back ache in a deep pain. Ellie quickly stood up, her vision clouding as she grabbed out her gun and shot the runner five times. It collapsed on Willow's body, and her eyes widened in shock. Ellie looked over the girl, holding her hand out and helping her up off the ground. They looked around the larger sewer system they were in, spores inching across the walls.

The two looked in their bags, and Willow quickly grabbed out her gas mask. She looked at it in horror, the filtration completely broken from the fall. "Shit! Oh my god!" Willow yelled, her breath quickening as she stumbled on her feet. Ellie looked over, seeing the broken gas mask in her hands. She grabbed her own, looking at its perfect condition before handing it to Willow. The girl looked at Ellie, confusion on her face. "What are you doing?!" She yelled.

Ellie shook her head, shoving the gas mask onto Willow's head and clipping it against her hair. "Don't worry about me, we need to get out of here." The older teenager clicked her flashlight on, looking around the spore-covered walls.

"You're gonna turn!" Willow yelled, her voice muffling against the mesh film of the gas mask. She grabbed onto Ellie's shoulders, turning her to face the girl. "This is _my_ fault, get this fucking mask on, now! I'll go and get some intel before I die-"

"No-"

"-and then I'll tell you through a walkie-talkie or something, then you'll have something to go back to Jackson with-"

"No!" Ellie yelled harshly, looking through the glass and into Willow's eyes. "I- _Fuck._ " She swore, looking down at the ground and shaking her head. What was she doing? Was she really going to tell Willow about her immunity? Did she really have a choice? "I'm immune, okay?" She revealed.

Willow looked at her, panicked and eyes widened. She slipped her hands off of Ellie's shoulders, her breath beginning to pick up again. She held her hand against her neck, trying to ignore the deep bruising from the infected. "You're- You're _what_?!" Willow yelled. Ellie winced, half-expecting something like that to come out of the girl's mouth. "No- That's fucking impossible-!" She stopped herself, her mouth staying agape as something different clouded her vision. "You were the cure, weren't you?"

Cautiously, Ellie nodded, stepping back a bit and letting her mouth curl downwards. "He was protecting me." She stated softly. The other girl's back hunched, her feet almost digging downwards into the concrete as she attempted to ground herself.

"Let's talk about this later." Willow proposed, her eyes drooping with exhaustion. She didn't want to discuss it yet; she was too tired to really comprehend anything. "We need to find something that'll give us information-" A large yell echoing through the sewers interrupted her. It wasn't an infected- no, it was _human_. Someone who hadn't turned. Ellie looked at the younger girl and nodded, the two pulling out their guns and beginning their way through the ankle-deep water.

They looked around for a few minutes, their vision slowly blurring due to the mass number of spores, but they finally came across a man. Willow looked over him, he was old, his hair grayed and long. He was coughing non-stop, curled up against one of the large grates in the sewers. His gas mask was splayed down on the ground, split down the middle completely. Ellie looked to the ground, placing her gun back down in her holster and picking up a stray pipe.

"Please- _Please..._ " The man begged. "Just fucking kill me."

Ellie shook her head darkly, her face illuminated by her flashlight. She kneeled, her knees bending underneath her weight. She held onto the pipe and placed it up against the ground, letting her weight shift onto it. "You're gonna tell us-" Ellie began, motioning her head towards Willow. "Everything you know about the WLF." She demanded, menacingly glaring at the man. He shook his head drastically, pushing himself further against the sewer grate.

"What makes you think I'll do that?" He asked.

"Because we can make this really, _really_ painful." Willow interjected, stepping forward a bit. "Or- we can make this easy and swift for you." She smirked, sending a shudder down Ellie's spine, even though she was the ally. "The choice is yours." The man didn't answer, and the older teenager stood up, cracking her knees and grasping tightly onto the pipe. She took a harsh swing at his stomach, sending his back into the sewer grate.

"Fuck!" He swore loudly. Again, not giving any information to the girls. Willow reached towards Ellie, ducking down and grabbing the other girl's tactical knife from her calf holster. The younger teenager flipped it in her hands, kneeling down and stabbing the man's knee with it. Willow twisted it a bit as he began to yell out in pain. "Okay!" He groaned. "Okay, I'll tell you everything." The man broke, letting Willow stand up and straighten up next to Ellie.

"H-Here..." He breathed, shuddering and groaning out in pain as he reached into his pocket. He grabbed out a map, tossing it to the ground. "That's the map of the stadium, and all our patrols. There's a list of all the WLF members on the back." Ellie looked at him skeptically, dropping the pipe to the ground with a loud noise and grabbing the map. As the man had said, everything was marked down in red ink, and the list of people in the WLF was on the back.

Three names were highlighted.

_Kam Yulia,_

_Robin Arn,_

And _Ollie Peterson._

"What's your name?" Ellie asked.

"Ollie." The old man replied.

Willow nodded; her lips turned downwards. "Anything else we should know, Ollie?" She asked. Ellie quickly placed the map in her backpack, folding it up shakily. What was she doing? She was torturing an innocent man, just for answers. She shook her head lightly to herself as she thought. It was what needed to be done. "Nothing?" Willow's voice made Ellie return to reality again, and she only then realized her own hyperventilation.

The younger girl pulled her gun out, clicking the safety off the trigger and pointing it at the man's- Ollie's- head. One. Two. Three shots in his forehead. Blood drained out of it as he collapsed onto the concrete, and the life slowly sucked itself out of his body. Ellie looked at him, it was no different than what she did to infected, but with someone who had a conscious, she suddenly felt incredibly guilty towards the man.

Ellie gasped for air; her hand pressed against her chest. Willow looked at her, panicked. She looked to the older girl, holding onto her shoulders comfortingly. "C'mon, let's get somewhere safe, okay?" Willow asked, only receiving a weak nod from Ellie in return. The younger teen led her into a door in the sewers, an old storage room with a weak lightbulb hanging on the ceiling. Ellie's eyes screwed shut, she didn't want to remember the pained look on the man's face as he breathed in spores.

She didn't want to remember.


	11. ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴇɴ  
** **ᴛʀᴀᴜᴍᴀ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Willow set down a bottle of alcohol and a few spare rags on one of the boxes, watching as Ellie rocked herself back and forth on another one. She was breathing in and out, slowly but each breath was full of panic, anyone could tell. The blood from the WLF member was splattered across her face and body, completely covering her skin in a red tint. Her mind swarmed with horrible images and thoughts, causing a headache to pound in her ears.

The younger teenager sat on a storage box just across from Ellie, looking over her panicked form. Surely she had gotten answers out of someone violently before, how was that time any different? She shook her head, not wanting to question the girl from Jackson's motives. She knew what she was doing, and all Willow had to do was comfort Ellie to the best of her ability. And clean the blood off of her body to dissipate any suspicion that would come from the WLF.

Ellie looked to Willow, her eyes wide and mouth agape as she attempted to breath evenly. With every few breaths she took, a shudder would run through her body, a small tremor that interrupted the oxygen from filling her lungs. Every time she took a full breath, her body would scream in joy, clear and crisp air was a luxury to her. Her short hair dangled down to her chin, no longer in a half-bun, but fully released against her skin.

With her blonde hair pushed back against her shoulder blades, Willow leaned forward, looking at Ellie with a small frown. "C'mon, let's get you cleaned up, okay?" She asked. Ellie nodded softly, gripping the bottom of her shirt and pulling it above her head. Willow grabbed the garment, placing it down on the ground and looking at Ellie's chest. It was covered in blood, just like her neck, face, and arms. No wonder she was panicking so much.

She grabbed the rag from the top of another storage container, dousing it with a bit of alcohol in case Ellie had any wounds. Willow took the cloth and began dabbing it lightly against Ellie's skin, beginning with her collarbone. Her torso moved with every large breath she took in and out, reminding Willow that she was still in a state of some form of shock. Willow ran the washcloth down the bone of Ellie's collar lightly, still moving softly.

The older girl winced as the alcohol-covered rag moved over a deep cut on her neck. Ellie only then realized that it was even there in the first place. She must have cut herself in the water bank on the way to the stadium. Willow took it slow, softly disinfecting the wound to the best of her ability. She turned her head to the side, placing the rag against the alcohol lid and tipping some of the liquid into the washcloth again. She quickly returned to Ellie's bare torso, beginning her way up to her face.

Slowly, Willow gazed over Ellie's face as she cleaned it. She looked over every freckle, blemish, and beauty mark that was splattered on her nose and cheeks. Willow looked over Ellie's eyes, her nose, and her lips. She didn't want to take advantage of the girl's panic, so she continued to finish the blood splattered on her forehead, not closing the gap between their lips like she wanted to. They needed to find information on the WLF, not find their feelings.

No more blood could be seen on Ellie's face, and Willow scooted the box she was sitting on backwards, placing the rag back down on another container. She picked up Ellie's blood-soaked shirt, standing up and holding it above the girl's head. Ellie lifted her hands up, letting Willow pull the grey garment over her head and onto her torso again. The older girl shakily stood up, holding onto the younger one's arms for some form of stability against her shuddering form.

Willow sat back down across from her, holding her hand out slowly. Ellie opened her palm, letting her hand rest on her knee. Their hands grasped one another's, not squeezing, but just lightly brushing against each other's skin. Willow pulled her index finger up, beginning to trace the lines of Ellie's palm on her skin. The girl's breathing slowed down as her body relaxed, she began focusing on Willow's small patterns, finding some form of solace in the light movements.

They stayed there for what seemed like hours as Ellie calmed down, her heart beginning to beat at a normal pace. Willow's fingers continued to trace the other girl's palm until she noticed Ellie's calmer state. Their eyes darted across each other's faces, both of them trying to memorize what they looked like in the illumination of only a small, dim lightbulb. Ellie, in a calmer state, pushed herself, darting forward and lightly pressing her lips against Willow's.

Although it was a soft, short kiss, Ellie's face sparked with a sense of familiarity and warmth. She wanted to stay there forever, with Willow. Just the two of them, somewhere. The younger girl fought the non-stop urge to smile against Ellie's lips, her cheeks softening as they turned a deep red, almost comparable to the blood on the other girl's face that had been wiped off. Ellie sighed, her mind filled with content as she pulled away from Willow's lips.

Both of them felt an overwhelming chill, the warmth that had erupted through their lips disappearing as they pulled apart. Willow let out a large breath, her cheeks completely red as she regained her surroundings. Ellie shakily stood up, grabbing onto the other girl's hands for stabilization. Willow helped her stand up, the two of them not speaking a word to each other. The older teenager leaned down, wincing in pain as she shrugged on her backpack.

They silently prepared to make their way back up and out of the stadium, having the intel that they needed from the man they killed. Willow pulled on her own bag, slowly and cautiously pushing open the door to the storage room. Ellie trudged towards her, walking by and pushing herself into the sewers, no matter how much she didn't want to go back. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the dead body, slumped into the corner of the large pipe.

Ellie winced, looking away as her breathing began to quicken. Willow grasped onto her hand comfortingly, lightly letting her fingers dance against the other girl's. "You'll be okay." She whispered softly, releasing Ellie's hand and motioning her towards where they had come from. The older teenager nodded, and they walked through the water together, beginning to make their way back to Jackson County.


	12. ɴᴀʀʀᴏᴡ ᴇꜱᴄᴀᴘᴇ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ**   
**ɴᴀʀʀᴏᴡ ᴇꜱᴄᴀᴘᴇ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Ellie trudged lightly through the water, Willow trailing beside her. Every few steps she took would send an uneven breath through her lungs, but she tried to ignore it as they approached the large staircase they had scaled down before. Willow took the lead, walking up the steep steps. Her feet began to ache under each movement, and she silently wished for a release from the non-stop walking. The door stood in front of her, tall and almost threatening.

Soldiers of the WLF were going to be gathered in groups, there was no doubt that Ellie and Willow wouldn't be able to go back the way they came. The older teen cautiously grabbed her gun, pressing it against her chest. Willow turned the doorknob slowly, opening the door just a crack. Light poured into the sewer system, but it wasn't as much as she had suspected. Large, thunderous clouds had gathered above, cold rain falling down onto the concrete roads below.

The two slipped through the door, their hair and faces immediately becoming drenched in rain. They ducked behind the military truck, holding their breaths. WLF soldiers talking was all they could hear over the rain, and Willow quickly scooted herself to the front of the vehicle. She craned her neck around the hood, spotting three soldiers on their way over to the girls' hiding spot. One was a bit behind the others, hot on their friends' trails.

Two of the soldiers walked by Ellie and Willow, letting them leap out and tackle them both in a chokehold. With little struggle, they fell to the ground, limp and lifeless with no air to keep them breathing. The third soldier noticed his friend's disappearance, and Ellie could hear the sound of a gun clicking with a reload. Willow motioned her over, and they slipped behind another vehicle, pressing their backs against the stadium wall until they were on the other side.

"This is Solomita at stadium sector twelve!" The first soldier yelled out onto his radio, his deep voice startling Willow and Ellie. "McLoughlin and Simons are dead! We've got company!"

Willow could barely hear the response from the radio, and frankly, she didn't want to. The two girls stayed behind the Humvee, trying to ignore the footsteps that eagerly approached them. Soldiers were going to be after them, there was no doubt about it. Ellie quickly noticed a sniper glint from one of the skyscrapers, circling around the premises. She grasped harshly onto Willow's hand, dragging her back behind the vehicle. A shot rang out beside them, a bullet hole encasing itself into the stadium walls.

"They're here!" One of the WLF soldiers cried. "It's two of them, should be easy, don't let them get to you!"

Panic rose in Ellie's chest as the footsteps of soldiers came walking around the vehicle port they were hiding in. They had to think of an escape plan, fast. The river wasn't steady, and it would kill both Willow and her if they tried to swim down it. But if the WLF had taken it as their territory, there had to be some kind of boats they could steal, right? It was better than their situation, guards approaching them, ready to kill. They had to be ready to take a chance.

The older girl grabbed onto the younger one's shoulder, looking at her with her eyes widened. "We need to get to the water bank, there'll be some kind of vehicle to get across." Ellie planned, only getting a shaking head in return from Willow.

"There's snipers and soldiers everywhere!" She whispered. "We'll die!"

"Well, unless you have a better plan-"

Willow hushed Ellie, bringing her to silence as the sound of harsh footsteps against the road filled their ears. They had nowhere to run to. The older teenager immediately took action, swinging herself up onto the hood of the car. She attracted attention, but that was enough to pull Willow up and slide off of the other side of the truck. With shots firing around them and their legs and chests burning with adrenaline, they ran across the wet road.

Rain flooded their senses as they ran. Willow's eyes burnt as she gripped onto Ellie's hand, letting her run ahead a bit. Everything was happening at once. Thunder boomed harshly across the city, the WLF took as many shots as they could at the girls, barely missing. Ellie's sneakers squeaked against the wet road, the river finally coming into view. The yelling of soldiers was faint below the loud rain and thunder, but Ellie reminded herself constantly that they were still there.

Finally, they reached the break of the road, and Willow pulled to a stop. Large, tin boats with engines were softly humming below them, almost prepared for their arrival. Ellie ducked down, jumping onto one of the boats. She pulled her hoodie over her head, holding her hand out to Willow and pulling her down as well. More and more shots barely missed their heads, the sound of the bullets whizzing filling their senses.

The younger girl slumped down, lifting her jacket up. Blood was coating itself around a small graze wound. It wasn't too life-threatening, the bullet wasn't lodged into her skin, but she was still bleeding out onto her jeans. Willow winced as she pulled her backpack off of her back, letting out a sharp intake of breath. She grabbed some loose bandages out of it, tightening it and wrapping it around her lower torso.

Ellie looked at her, taking a hold of the boat engine and steering it towards the way the current was rushing. She gazed at the blood seeping through Willow's bandage, her eyes widening as she tried to yell over the loud roar of the boat engine. "Are you okay?" She asked loudly.

Willow nodded. "Yeah, just a-" She took a sharp breath, holding her hand to her wound as she pulled her shirt back down. "Just a graze, I'll be fine." She convinced herself, trying to blink away the black spots that were dotting her vision.

They looked around Seattle as they rode down the natural river, enjoying the simple noise of the rain with no gunshots. The silence was like music to both of the girl's ears, and Ellie reminisced about what the city may have looked like before the outbreak. She gazed towards Willow, watching as the girl's eyes flickered open and shut. Ellie sighed, turning back towards the front of the boat and continuing it down the river.


	13. ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʜᴏᴍᴇ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ**   
**ʙᴀᴄᴋ ʜᴏᴍᴇ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Thankfully, the torrential rain had stopped, and Willow and Ellie both side with relief as Jackson came into view. They hadn't gotten their horses back, which meant the walk back to the county was extremely exhausting. Nonetheless, they made it. And it seemed like the weather had cleared up just for their arrival. Their feet were blistering, but Jackson was just down the hill of their last checkpoint. Willow and Ellie had truly made it.

They walked down the hill slowly, their bodies not used to the sudden harsh change in weather. It was just like their first day in Seattle, the sun boring down onto their heads and almost causing a deep sunburn. The grass underneath them had turned a deep green because of the non-stop rain over the past few days, and it was a nice change from the dull, gray colour it used to be. Summer was clearly almost over, and the clouds were warmly welcoming autumn in.

Willow looked over to Ellie as they traversed through a wooded area. She still had a question lying at the bottom of her stomach, and now that Ellie was feeling better, she could ask. "So, can I ask why you didn't even _flinch_ when you inhaled spores?" Willow asked cautiously, her voice still soft despite the harsh nature of the question. "Or is that still in the vault?"

Ellie chuckled, trying to avoid thinking about the question too much. "'The vault'?"

"Yeah!" Willow exclaimed, as if it were obvious. "Y'know, where everything is that I don't know about you." She answered.

The older girl sighed, kicking the dirt path with her foot as they walked. Would it be so bad if she told Willow about her immunity? Joel would have her head on a stick, but that was the last concern on Ellie's mind. Ellie truly cared for the girl that had stumbled upon Jackson on accident, and she believed that the feelings were not unrequited. Of course she had doubts, but she was brash. Willow was her balance to that. It wouldn't hurt to tell her the truth.

"I'm immune."

Willow stayed silent for a few moments, her head mulling over the thoughts. Ellie watched, her eyes softening as the younger girl she had grown to admire stopped in the middle of the street. Her heart raced and pounded through her ears, was she going to be mad, or maybe even furious that Joel had killed everyone she knew? Probably. Ellie held her breath, stepping in front of her friend and waiting with pursed lips for her reply.

"So you're-" She cleared her throat. "You're 'the cure'?" Willow asked for confirmation, looking up at Ellie with furrowed eyebrows. She didn't look mad, just- confused.

"Yeah... Yeah I am."

"Wow." Willow let out a big breath of disbelief, her eyes blinking. Ellie looked at her, trying to pry her gaze away from the flickering light pouring through the trees that dazzled the girl's green eyes. "That's a lot to unpack, jeez." The blonde kicked a few rocks, beginning to walk along the path again. "So, you were supposed to be operated on and... die for the cure?"

Ellie nodded. "Yeah. I was supposed to." She answered shortly, her furrowed eyebrows still showing the fact that she hadn't forgiven Joel for what he had done.

"Well, if it helps, I'm glad you didn't die on that table." Willow revealed, looking over to Ellie with a small, soft smile on her face. It was almost a look of comfort, as if she knew about the girl's underlying guilt that was constantly at the bottom of her stomach. "I know that the world would go back to normal and all, but I would've never met you." She smiled.

The older teen shook her head, looking back up at Willow with a confused daze in her eyes. "But- you would've never been captured by the Rattlers!" She exclaimed loudly. "Isn't that enough to make you wish there was a cure?"

"I can't turn back time, El'." Willow replied, striking the other girl with the nickname. "What would wishing even do?" She looked down to the floor, smiling a bit. "Besides, you saved my life, _multiple_ times. I kinda have to meet you in this life." She laughed.

Ellie thought for a moment. Even though she was still mad at Joel for not letting her become the cure, she realized her luckiness. To have someone that cared about her enough to do that. She looked to Willow, hoping that Willow cared for Ellie as much as Ellie cared for her. The moment that Ellie knew she was too far in was in that stadium. When they kissed. As much as she was telling herself she couldn't, she did it anyway.

She really cared for Willow, didn't she?

"I guess you're right." Ellie replied softly, gazing back down at the ground. She was slowly coming to terms with the fact that she couldn't have done anything different, even if she went back in time. Her eyes turned upwards, seeing the leaves above her. They were almost yellow. Their roots were still green, but it was still a perfect sign of the fact that autumn was approaching. Ellie turned back to Willow. "You know that chemical burn I told you about?"

She nodded in response, stepping to the side, a bit closer to Ellie. "Of course."

The older girl rolled up her sleeve just enough to show her tattoo. Willow bent her neck over, tilting her head a bit as she inspected it. Ellie rolled her fingertips over the large marking in her skin. "It's a bite mark." She spoke. Willow lifted her hand up, lightly touching the marking. "I actually spilled chemicals on it on purpose. To try and cover it."

Willow let out an astounded breath, still dusting her scarred fingers over her skin. "That's amazing, it's like its frozen in time." Ellie looked at her, smiling. She never thought of it as 'amazing', she was always told it was quite dangerous. But seeing someone admire it, it was just a whole new experience. A whole new _feeling_. "I get why you lie about this, but it's so beautiful. It's your story, El'." Willow exclaimed breathily.

The girls pulled away from each other, turning back towards the rugged, dirt path they were walking along. Jackson was only a few minutes away, they'd be able to make it before dinner. Maybe Maria could fix up some leftovers from when they were gone. The older teen sighed, she hoped that Willow wouldn't leave as soon as they got there. Ellie had been accustomed to her company, and Willow would be lying if she said she didn't feel the same way.

"Who took you?" Willow asked abruptly.

"What do you mean?" Ellie replied in question.

"I mean- who saved you from the operating table?" She re-instated, looking at the older girl with a soft gaze on her face. She didn't want to pressure Ellie into answering, Willow could tell that it was a sore subject for her.

Ellie shook her head a bit, her eyes drooping. "His name was Joel." She revealed. "He- He took me from Boston to Saint Mary's Hospital, and I guess he didn't want to let me go." She sighed deeply, looking over at Willow and shrugging a bit. "He lives in Jackson, we haven't spoken in a bit..."

The younger girl placed her hand on Ellie's shoulder in comfort, her face showing nothing but trust and admiration. "Thanks for telling me all of this, El'." Willow spoke. "For trusting me. And also for saving my life, I guess." She shrugged sarcastically, pulling a light chuckled from Ellie's lips.

"I couldn't think of anyone better to tell my story to." Ellie replied honestly. Willow quickly pressed her lips to the other girl's freckled cheeks before they continued on the path to Jackson.

The rest of the trip was comfortably silent. They both resorted to gazing over the relatively cloudy sky and the trees bending and twisting around them. Nothing interesting was coming up in Ellie's mind, so she shut her mouth, letting her face rest. Willow ignored the aching pains in her feet, trying to busy herself with admiring the beautiful near-autumn trees. Everything around them was lush and green, it was truly beautiful.

Large, green gates appeared in their view, and Ellie immediately knew that they had made it to Jackson County. Relief spread through Willow's lungs, they were truly safe. Maria met them at the front gate and let them in, but everything was a blur in the girls' exhausted state. All Ellie could remember was giving her the map of the WLF and the list of its members. Willow faintly recalled walking back to the other girl's house, but she couldn't remember the rest of the night.

In reality, both of the girls had passed out next to each other on Willow's mattress, warm from the constantly open window that loomed across from them. And, of course, warm from each other's arms.


	14. ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ**   
**ꜰᴏʟʟᴏᴡᴇᴅ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

After a few days of staying in Jackson, Maria gave Willow the 'okay' to stay for a while longer. In truth, she didn't want to leave Ellie, and she wanted to be comfortable for once. So, the two girls stayed at Ellie's house for the time being, whilst Willow 'figured out what she wanted to do', in Maria's words. A girl who never had comfort in her life, and a girl who had comfort but not the right kind. They fit almost perfectly together.

A knock sounded on Ellie's door, and she was forced to relieve her position on her new couch. She was laying down on the recliner part, letting Willow rest her head on her thighs and have a slight bit of sleep after Seattle. The older girl sighed, slipping out from under Willow's head and standing up. She stretched for a moment, cracking her neck and pulling her hands above her head. It had been a while since she had gotten to properly relax like that.

Ellie groaned as another loud knock called from the door. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" She sighed, stepping over to the front door and opening it.

In front of her stood a girl she had never seen before. She looked around Willow's age, which was only a few months off from Ellie's. Blonde hair tied in a ponytail, an orange button-up shirt, who was she? She wouldn't have been let into Jackson if she weren't hurt or in need of help, so Ellie didn't question Maria's ability to decipher an enemy from a potential ally. She didn't want to bring it up with her, anyway, or the woman would most definitely rebuttal with Willow's situation.

The girl across from Ellie blinked a few times, almost trying to recognize her. She stepped forward, pressing the barrel of a gun to her stomach discreetly. "You bitch, you didn't even leave him in peace, he would've been fine!"

Ellie looked at her, eyes widened. "Who the fuck are you? Why are you here?"

"Let me in, and I might just let you live for ten minutes longer." The girl spat. Ellie looked to Willow, who began to stir on the couch. The teenager complied, stepping back and letting the stranger inside. She still had the gun pointed at Ellie, ready to fire whenever. The girl shut the door behind them, still looking at the teenager skeptically.

Willow's eyes batted open, only to see a strange blonde-haired woman standing across from Ellie. She looked downwards, spotting a gun being directly pointed at her friend's stomach. Willow silently slipped off of the couch, digging underneath it and finding Ellie's spare gun. She pulled her dust-covered arm out from underneath, shaking some of the dirt off. The safety wasn't on the gun, so she quickly stood up, pointing it at the strange girl.

"Step the fuck away from her." Willow's voice wavered a bit, but she didn't show any weakness. The gun was fully loaded, just in case. She knew that.

The girl seethed, pushing the gun further towards Ellie's stomach. "You shoot me, I shoot her."

Ellie's eyes showed nothing. No panic, nothing. But Willow could tell that she was scared, scared of losing herself. Scared of dying. And Willow was scared too, her neck had acquired a lump, and she gulped it down. She didn't want to lose Ellie, not like that. Willow swore under her breath, pulling her gun downwards and away from the girl. Her eyebrows quivered as she bit back a panicked yell. If anybody knew what was happening, the stranger would shoot Ellie. No doubt about it.

"Even if you shoot me, you're both gonna fuckin' die tonight." The girl announced. "And so is everyone else in this town."


	15. ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴄᴀʀꜱ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰᴏᴜʀᴛᴇᴇɴ**   
**ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴄᴀʀꜱ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

_A man with a gruff beard held onto the chain of a clicker, watching as it wailed and tried to fight back against its restraints. Its feet made marks in the thick, green grass, showing its true struggle. The man sighed, looking to the side to see a Scar hanging from the tree. His face was beaten up badly, the result of the cult member trying to fight back against him. He merely grinned and cut the Scar down, holding onto her rope that was tied around her wrists._

_She writhed as he pushed her towards the clicker, but she was too quick for him. She quickly pushed her arms up, hitting him in the lower stomach and letting him fall to the ground. The scar, her hands still tied together, used her feet to push the man dangerously towards the clicker. The infected cried out, pulling itself as close to the man as possible. Regaining his self, the man stood up, picking up a bat and hitting the Scar in the stomach a few times._

_The woman fell to the ground in a heap, groaning as the grass and ants crawled against her skin. The man stood above her, smirking a bit. He spit against her Scar clothing as she writhed against her restraints, her wrists beginning to bleed from the rope. As she moved, the dirt around her kicked up, causing her to enter into a coughing fit. She felt as if spores had flowed into her lungs, she couldn't even hit her chest to get the dirt out._

_He looked over her, crouching down to her level menacingly. "Your family will suffer because of your incompetence." The man spat, kicking the woman's stomach with her feet. She groaned in pain, her eyes screwing shut as he talked. "Fuckin' Scar."_

_"Seraphite." She corrected, coughing. The man kicked her harder, watching as she screamed out to nobody. The woman regained her life, her eyes almost rolling to the back of her head as she looked back at the gruff and painless man. She nodded her head towards his exposed bicep, and only then did he notice the large, bleeding bite mark from the clicker. "The demon struck you, all hope is lost for you. May she forgive you for your sins." She stated, her head dropping against the sand as she lost consciousness._

_The man stood up, his eyes widening in panic as his bite mark continued to bleed. The clicking noises of the infected filled his senses, and his mind began to swirl with thoughts unaccounted for. He looked out onto the forest horizon, spotting an older man walking towards him. He quickly used a bandage to cover up his bicep, the other man walking closer and closer towards him. Two other guards were with him, and he only hoped he could keep a secret. What had he done?_

✧✧✧

Robin looked out onto the WLF stadium, her eyes glossing across the many houses and apartments that made up the beautiful nation. Her blonde hair was pulled up tightly into a ponytail, only a few strands escaping and falling against her cheeks. It was her 'vacation' day, so she sat in her couch in her living room, wearing a simple blue pullover and jeans. She wasn't expecting any assignments, so she simply watched as the WLF apartments began shutting their lights off, the sun setting behind the clouds.

She sighed, grabbing her empty mug off of the coffee table in front of her and standing up, stretching her back out a bit. The top of Robin's shirt lifted up, revealing her ugly scar that fell just above her hipbone. "Scars." She muttered deeply under her breath, scoffing before walking into her kitchen. Cups and plates scattered the countertops messily, and Robin knew she had to clean up, but usually she'd clean up before her boyfriend got home.

Speaking of, Kam hadn't gotten back to the stadium yet. Well, he hadn't come to the apartment, at least. They had been together for almost five years, give or take about a year when they had been broken up. Robin was hopeful that he was being distant because he was planning a proposal, but he had always been distant. Truly, the red flags of a one-sided relationship were all there, but she was too blind with love to notice that Kam didn't love her back.

Robin sighed deeply, rubbing her sleep-deprived eyes before beginning to wash the dishes. It was the same routine everyday. Clean, do some assignments for Isaac, clean, and maybe get some sleep- if she was lucky. One of the women around the WLF, Mel, had offered to take some assignments for Robin, but they were really the only thing keeping her sane. Killing Scars and patrolling the area around the stadium, she was _truly_ living the life, wasn't she?

Before she knew it, the dishes had been stacked in their proper cupboard. Robin sighed, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. The doorbell chimed and echoed through her apartment, and the woman eagerly walked over, opening the hinges. Across from her stood her boyfriend, Kam, bloody and bruised with his hair tussled. His clothing was ripped, scars cutting deeply in his skin and half-assed stitches wrapped around his cheek.

Kam's girlfriend quickly pulled him inside, only for him to retract his hand at her touch. Robin closed the door behind him and faced his eyes, trying to find any kind of eye contact she could find. "What happened?" She asked, concern furrowing in her eyebrows and wrinkling her forehead deeply.

He simply looked to the side, his eyes dull and almost lifeless. "Just some Scars." Kam muttered, his voice deep and uninterested. "Nothing I can't handle." He shrugged his long, blue shirt sleeve down his arm further, his bicep completely covered by the cloth.

"Okay..." Robin replied skeptically, her neck bobbing as she gulped down a reply. "Let's get you cleaned up." She smiled sweetly, only for Kam to shake his head grimly.

"I can do it." He quickly spoke before swiftly gliding across the wooden floors, his blood-stained boots staining the planks. Kam disappeared into the bathroom, the door shutting lightly behind him. Robin sighed, only wishing for her boyfriend to be okay. He always acted like that after missions (before and during, too), and she had gotten used to the fact that he was probably just a distant man. But she couldn't help but let her mind wander to when she had seen him with his close WLF friends a few weeks before. He was truly enjoying himself, laughing at their jokes and even making a few of his own. Kam never laughed at Robin's jokes anymore, and he never bothered to entertain her with his own.

Robin turned around to her freezer, opening the bottom drawer and looking around for her ice pack. It was placed just above one of the frozen chickens she had stored. She grabbed it and shut the freezer with her leg, walking back over to the living room and placing the ice pack on the coffee table. Robin sat back down on the couch with a sigh, her head turning to the bathroom door. Her eyes bored into the doorknob, and she still felt her heart race as the gold reflection turned a bit. It opened fully, revealing Kam, the blood washed off of his face and and his bruises patched with taped bandages.

He didn't say anything, he didn't even make an effort to acknowledge his girlfriend. Instead, he swiftly turned into their bedroom, shutting the door and shuffling around. Robin looked at the unused ice pack on the coffee table, watching as it slowly slumped into the wood and began to melt. She looked around the couch, grabbing a hold of the cold remote and pointing it towards her old television. She made sure to turn down the volume before choosing something to watch.

Some of the WLF members worked at the TV station, and they delivered news sometimes. It was hard to get a good signal, but it was better than relying on an old radio for any form of entertainment. Robin was convinced that their line was being taken over by Scars, even though they didn't believe in any 'old world' technology. The enemies had been getting better and better at anticipating their attacks, radios were telling them where they were.

The woman zoned her eyes out on the television, drowning out her loud thoughts. None of the other house lights in the stadium were illuminated, and most of the curtains were drawn over the windows to keep privacy. Even the lights in the main area of the stadium were dimmed, and Robin took that as a sign to turn her body around and lay down. She rested the back of her head on the couch armrest, letting her eyes slip shut.

Her mind wandered to Kam, was he okay? What had happened? It was supposed to be a simple single-man patrol around the untamed forests of Seattle. He was supposed to just check the WLF traps and then come back home. And no matter how hard Robin tried to clear her mind, it kept jumping to how worried she was for her boyfriend. He was acting odder than usual, and she heard more shuffling and items being dropped from the bedroom than usual. She was worried.

Robin shut her eyes harshly, turning over onto her side and placing her hands under her head as a cushion. She just wanted to sleep, she had assignments the next day. She just wanted to sleep. The large bags on her eyes told the story of a few weeks gone by without a proper night of rest. Finally, the universe answered her prayers, and the thoughts of Kam, Scars and the infected left her mind and disintegrated as she fell into a sleep.


	16. ꜱᴇᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ ꜱᴛᴀᴅɪᴜᴍ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

 **ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜰɪꜰᴛᴇᴇɴ  
** **ꜱᴇᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ ꜱᴛᴀᴅɪᴜᴍ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

No nation that existed past outbreak day could compete with the WLF stadium. They were united by their wishes to take back their land from Scars, and their mutual hatred for the FEDRA governing systems. A group that stayed together was stronger than any singular hunters scattered around the apocalyptic world, and the leaders and civilians that lived among the large nation took advantage of that. They had created a whole world out of the remnants of FEDRA, they were the strongest group.

But slowly, their walls were breaking. Everybody knew that the Scars were slowly infiltrating more and more of their land. Isaac told everyone that he had a plan, but in truth, the closest thing he had come to was blueprints for an attack on their island. It was only a matter of time until the WLF fell to the Scars, and the members feared for their lives. The stadium they lived in was being attacked more often, they were showing weakness.

Robin shook her head, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. She had slept on the couch the night before, leaving Kam and his strange attitude to the bedroom. He was acting odd, but his girlfriend sighed and brushed it off, getting up from the couch and cracking her neck. As autumn approached, the days began getting shorter. That meant only one thing. More nighttime patrols and assignments, which the woman absolutely loathed.

Three loud knocks rapped against her door, and Robin turned around, sighing and stepping away from her living room. She ignored the ice pack on her coffee table that had completely melted over the course of the warm night. She opened the front door groggily, only to face her best friend, Ollie Peterson. His gray hair trickled with sweat, he must have just gotten back from his personal training and workout for the day.

"You look like shit." Robin remarked playfully, chuckling to herself. The man only sent her a glare in return. Ollie was in his late fifties, and he was a veteran at the WLF stadium. He still was considered Robin's best friend, though, as they had known each other since she was only a young girl.

When she first got hired to work at the WLF, she was fourteen. She had just lost her whole life to the Scars, and she wanted pure revenge. But Robin soon learned to put that past her, and she realized that preforming for herself was more important than preforming for her revenge. So, Robin made friends like Ollie and Kam. Of course, she cared for Kam in a different way than Ollie, but neither of them were more important than the other in her mind.

Ollie rolled his eyes, holding his hand against the doorframe and letting his long hair sweep over his cheeks. "And you look like you haven't got a wink of sleep." He replied with much more concern in his voice. His eyebrows furrowed as Robin stepped back a bit, trying not to let him focus on the dark bags looming under her eyes.

"Kam took the bed." She shook her head, seeing no use in lying to her closest friend. "He's been acting- _strange_ ever since the assignment he took last night."

The older man across from him shook his head, scoffing a bit at the young man's behavior. Of course, he had picked up on all of the red flags in Robin's relationship. No matter how hard Ollie tried, he could never get it in her stubborn head that she was in an unrequited love situation. "Well, we're going on a patrol, anyway." He stated. "We've got reports of some stragglers from nearby counties dropping in and out."

Robin nodded lightly, grabbing onto her coat and shrugging it over her shirt. She pulled on a pair of work-safe boots and left into the hallway. Ollie followed her down the carpeted corridor, explaining the mission debriefing, but nothing was getting to her head. All the young woman could think about was her boyfriend's recent behavior. Maybe he was simply feeling remorse for killing a Scar? Isaac had told her about the brutality of their attack the night prior. What if he was in trouble-?

"Hey!" Ollie yelled out, snapping Robin's head up. They were standing in front of the stairwell door, a large sign beside it reading _'To Weapons'_. "You still in there?" He asked, scoffing a bit.

She shook her head in return. "Let's just go."

The man skeptically gazed at her before turning to the door. He opened it, walking Robin down the long and winding staircase. By the time they got to the weapons room, her feet were aching from the harsh concrete she was walking down. They both walked into the weaponry, looking over the desk where a few of the weaponsmiths stood. All of them were sorting out boxes of ammo, first aid kits, and of course, guns and hand-held weapons.

Ollie approached the two WLF members working at the desk, leaning his hands and body against the slight overhang. "Hey, what do you have for us, Ralph?" He asked the red-haired man standing across from him.

"Scar assignment?" The weaponsmith asked.

"Yup." Ollie replied, sighing. "We're getting a lot of those lately. What the fuck is Isaac thinking?" He exclaimed. His voice dropped down to a whisper, so much so that Robin could barely hear him. She stepped up beside him, grabbing a spare backpack and beginning to load ammo into it.

Ralph shook his head, placing a few guns on the desk for the two to take. "He's been pulling more and more people off of patrols." He explained to the older man. "I'm guessing that he's trying to get the attack on the Scar island to happen faster."

"I hope he knows that he's putting us at risk." Ollie scoffed, grabbing one of the assault rifles and the handgun Ralph had given him. He slung the AR over his back and put his pistol in his backpack holster.

Robin smiled at the WLF weaponsmith and grabbed a shotgun, running her hands over the cold metal before pulling it against her back. She put some more shells in her backpack before grasping onto the revolver on the desk, as well. She already had a knife strapped to her thigh, it was simple common sense, so she knew she didn't need another melee weapon. Robin brushed herself off, fully armed and ready for the assignment she and Ollie were about to take.

Ralph turned to both of them, nodding lightly. "May your survival be long."

"And may your death be swift." Robin finished the motto, turning to Ollie.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

The woman nodded, cracking her knuckles. "Yeah, I'm ready."

✧✧✧

The two best friends sat in the front of one of the WLF trucks. Ollie took the wheel, elegantly driving down the patrol area and looking out for any stray Scars wandering around. Robin also kept her eye out from the passenger seat, letting her head fall back onto the not-so-comfortable headrest. It was no surprise that the military vehicles weren't the best things to sit in, but they had working trucks, it was a miracle for the time and place they were in.

Robin looked over towards the hills beside them, covered in old highways. "Do you think we'll see anything today?" She asked, turning her head back towards her partner.

Ollie immediately nodded. "Isaac assigned Kam here last night, I don't think he got much done." He replied harshly. Robin didn't want to believe that. She knew that her boyfriend was a diligent and esteemed member of the WLF, he would've cleared everything out with no problem.

Oh, how wrong she was.

Tons of horses began galloping against the back of the truck, they had ventured from the side of the hills. Each horse had a Scar placed atop of it, riding them towards where Robin and Ollie were situated. Panic ensued in both of them, the driver swerving the truck back and forth to try and lose their trail. But nothing worked. Adrenaline pumped through Robin's veins as she looked through the back window, arrows slamming against the glass and slowly cracking it.

She swore loudly, her arms aching from trying to grip onto the dashboard for support. She grabbed onto her handgun in her pocket, reloading it while trying not to let her head slam into the windows from Ollie's frantic movements. He began yelling, but his voice was blurred amongst the whistling of the Scars and the humming of the vehicle. They could hear the arrows punting into the metal of the truck, they needed to think of a plan, and fast.

"Fuck, Ollie?!" Robin yelled harshly, continuing to look back out from behind her shoulder. She unclipped her seatbelt and turned fully, ducking her head down every time the Scars took a shot at the back window. She looked up to the hills beside her, thinking hard. "I'll shoot them from the windows, you need to lose their trail!"

The man scoffed loudly. "What the fuck do you think I've been doing?!"

The woman only rolled her eyes, craning her body backwards. She grabbed her gun and shot once, breaking the glass of the window. Arrows began whizzing through the vehicle, but she needed to be able to make a clear shot. Robin lined up her pistol, still sitting down. She shot blindly, hoping that the whistles were ones of mourning and panic instead of triumph. The Scars didn't stop trailing them, but Robin could hear the cries of the horses as they bucked off their dead owners.

More and more arrows threatened to scrape against Robin's hair, making her heart thump louder in her ears and chest. As much as she hated to admit it, Ollie was right. Isaac was focusing so hard on the island that he neglected their regular patrols. The woman continued to shoot at the Scars, trying to keep the adrenaline pumping in case she got hit. Nothing was slowing the attackers down, they had to get them off their trail.

Gallops came from the window beside Robin, and she looked over just in time to dodge an arrow. It slid past her face and slipped past Ollie's, as well, lodging itself into the other window. She quickly reloaded her gun, ducking down underneath the window and propping her back up against the wall. Robin held her hand up, taking three shots and hearing the defeated screams of a dead Scar. She sat back up, turning around only to have two hands wrap around her neck.

She winced and kicked against Ollie, losing breath slowly. The two hands became the crook of the Scar's elbow, and the pressure began forcing more and more blood to rush to Robin's face. It was excruciating, she could barely feel her own mouth as she grunted. Her vision blurred, but she could just make out the silhouette of Ollie grabbing out his own handgun and taking a few shots at the Scar. He held one hand on the wheel, darting his eyes back from Robin's near-dead form slumped against the window.

Ollie took two shots, the bullets landing themselves almost perfectly between the eyes of the enemy he was facing. The grip loosened immediately off of Robin, and she gasped harshly for air. She sat back up and continued to breath deeply, rubbing the sore spot against her neck. The Scars had retreated, galloping off back to the hills where they had come from. The woman looked through her window, looking at the dead bodies of the Scars that she had killed from the rear-view.

"Shit..." Robin sighed, still grazing her neck with her fingertips. She wouldn't be surprised if it left a faint bruising from the Scar's hands.

"You alright?" Ollie asked, steering the truck back to the main, overgrown road.

She nodded. "Yeah, just a little winded." She breathed, shaking her head and looking down. Robin's hair was coated in Scar blood from where Ollie had shot them, it was gruesome. "Can we just get back to the stadium?" She asked.

The older man nodded, shifting the gears and doing a complete one-eighty across the road. "Yeah, let's get you cleaned up and back to Kam."


	17. ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɪɴꜰᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ?

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

****ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱɪxᴛᴇᴇɴ** **   
****ʏᴏᴜ'ʀᴇ ɪɴꜰᴇᴄᴛᴇᴅ?** **

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

Robin sat on her couch, placing an alcohol-covered rag over top of one of her wounds. Nothing too major had pierced her skin, but she knew that it was just a lucky attack. The Scars could’ve done much worse to her and Ollie if they had come more prepared. Usually the cult had many more people and weapons at their disposal, but everything was most likely being put towards preparing for the WLF attack.

The door of the bedroom unlocked, forcing Robin to turn her head to Kam. He stepped out, his body moving slowly across the floor. She looked at him in confusion for a moment as he stopped, staring towards the back door of the house. What was going on inside of his head? Robin could only wonder as he seemed to snap back into reality, his eyes widening a bit. He finally caught gaze of his girlfriend, his eyes sinking back to their normal, unimpressed emotion.

“Hey, are you doing alright?” Robin asked, standing up from the couch. Without an answer, she took a few steps towards Kam. She ignored the slight flinch of his arm when she reached forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hun’, what’s going on?”

Kam shook his head, stepping back hesitantly. “I- I need to go.”

Never in her whole life of knowing Kam did Robin _ever_ hear him stammer against his words. He was confident and brooding, he never made a mistake, even with his speech. Something was really, _really_ wrong, and that was the moment she knew. If Kam was even slightly nervous enough to struggle to get his words across, something darker was looming against his mind. Robin could almost see it in his eyes as he struggled to talk.

“Where?” She asked. “Kam, what the hell is going on?”

He looked torn, his eyes darting back and forth across the floor.

“I got bit last night.”

At Kam’s reveal, Robin’s chest constricted, the breath immediately catching inside of her lungs. The world seemed like it was caving in on her as a headache spotted her vision. She stumbled back, gripping onto her collarbone and trying to breathe evenly. Her head spun, her whole body threatening to faint as she gripped onto one of the apartment walls for stability. The thoughts in her head jumbled until they made no sense anymore.

She stood up straight, looking at Kam with wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows. “You’re infected?” Robin asked timidly, her lips slightly agape as she finished talking.

“Some Scar pushed me into one...” He trailed off. Robin could tell he was gaining some level of his own sanity, but it was dwindling. “I’m going off with Ollie tonight. I’ll tell him, and he’ll kill me.”

“No- No!” The woman yelled, stumbling a bit as she stood up straight. Her face was red, the oxygen trying to pump itself through her veins as she panicked. “We’ll take you, we’ll put you somewhere safe and you can live!”

“I will not turn into one of those things!”

“And I will not let you die!”

Robin took a deep breath in, her eyes filled with a mix of sadness and anger. “Show it to me.” Kam paused, looking at his girlfriend. “Show it to me!” She demanded, much more aggressively that time.

He hesitantly rolled the sleeve of his shirt up, revealing a deep, bubbling bite on his bicep. It was already scarring, dried blood circling where the mouth had hit him. The ugly blistering and bruising was enough for Robin to truly realize the weight of the situation, and she gasped deeply for air again. His skin was bright pink around it, he was going to turn by dawn tomorrow. If that fuckin’ smuggler hadn’t run off with the cure all those years ago, they wouldn’t be in that situation.

Kam scoffed, cracking Robin out of her thoughts. He shook his head and placed his hand overtop of his mouth, wiping his chin. “Ollie will kill me. If you want to come, that’s fine by me!” His breathing was becoming faster and heavier as time went on. “But I am _not_ living only to be a fuckin’ zombie!”

Robin gulped deeply, her eyes closing as they watered. “Fuck that. I’m keeping you alive, no matter what.” Finally, she stood her ground against his simple toleration for her love. She never usually made a fuss, just sat back and dealt with the things she was given. She thought that was what all couples dealt with. “Ollie can take you wherever the fuck you want to go, Kam, but I think you owe me this.” Robin breathed in shakily, trying not to let herself collapse onto the ground.

The man sighed, the knocking of a door breaking them from their trance. “I need to go.” He said, taking a few steps towards the front door.

“I need to talk to Ollie, first.” Robin countered, brushing her shoulder past him. Her eyelashes were wet with tears, but she didn’t pay any mind to it as she opened the door and revealed her friend. She quickly shut it behind her, looking over the older man in the hallway. “You will not- under _any_ circumstances kill him.” She demanded harshly, pointing her finger towards the door.

Ollie looked at her, a bewildered look on his face. He hesitantly nodded, not knowing for sure what was going on inside her head. “Okay, okay. Kid, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but I won’t kill Kam.” He promised. “Elliot and Julien are going, too. I’ll make sure they don’t kill him.”

She nodded, sighing in relief. Elliot and Julien were Kam’s best friends, she had no doubt that they wouldn’t kill him, even when he was infected. “Thanks.” Robin smiled, immediately frowning as the door behind her opened. Kam stepped out, nodding towards Ollie.

“You ready to go?” The older man asked.

“Yup.” Kam shortly replied.

Robin looked at her boyfriend, it would be the last time she would see him as who he really was. “I love you.” She spoke softly, trying not to let her voice crack with emotion.

He only nodded, following Ollie down the hallways.


	18. ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ʜᴇ?

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

****ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ  
** ** ****ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ʜᴇ?** **

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

The WLF member sat up abruptly from her position on her empty and cold bed. Her face was in a cold sweat, her eyelashes drooped down as she realized she was completely alone in the king bed. Robin sighed, rubbing her face and peeling the blankets off her body. She needed to find Kam. She needed to say goodbye to him one last time, maybe even watch him as he slowly turned. Maybe she would even take a bite for him. Whatever she did, she would never, under _any_ circumstances, kill him.

She got up off her bed and left her room, regaining her energy slowly. She didn’t have the best sleep the night before but given what had happened earlier in the day- it was understandable. Robin was still in a horrible mood, and she didn’t feel like going out for assignments. Isaac had put her on a team to go out and get more intel on the people in Santa Barbara that were allegedly Fireflies, but she just couldn’t. Not without knowing that Kam was alive as an infected.

A loud knock came at the door, and Robin groaned. It was going to be one of Isaac’s men, she was sure of it. They were hounding her ass to get ready for the Santa Barbara trip. She begrudgingly slid her feet across the floor and opened the wooden door, only to reveal Ollie. His eyes were wide, and his breath was heavy, and his eyes were filled with guilt. Robin ushered him in without a word, closing the door behind him and letting him sit on the couch.

Ollie shuddered as he sat down, scooching over just enough for Robin to sit behind him. She looked at him with a questioning gaze, not wanting to push him to give answers. But she still needed them. They stayed in a comfortable silence for a few more moments, letting the wind push through the windows and brush against their hair. Autumn was slowly creeping into the desolate world, and it was showing by creating colder winds.

Robin looked to Ollie, watching as he opened his mouth agape. “Kam bit Elliot and Julien.” He revealed, making the woman’s face turn into one of shock. He couldn’t have done that, could he?

She gulped. “Where is he?” She asked.

“I can’t-“

“Where is he?!” Robin yelled, much more harshly that time. She needed to know where Kam was, she needed to get to him and check in on him, and make sure he was okay.

“We dropped him off at the Seattle Hotel.” Ollie paused, taking a shuddered breath. “I was going to get some food for him so he could be healthy until he turned, but-“ He gulped, brushing his grey beard with his shaky hands. “But by the time I got back, Elliot and Julien had shot each other. Two bites on each of their arms.”

The woman gasped for air, her mind circling around the fact that her boyfriend was infected. “Can I see him, please?” She asked timidly. Usually, in situations like those, she would demand to be taken to him, she wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. But Robin felt ill with guilt and sorrow, her voice could barely handle yelling only three words. She hadn’t drunk enough water, eaten enough, or moved around in the last day and a half, she was killing herself slowly.

“Robin, when I got there, Kam was dead.”

“No-“ She sobbed, her head falling into the palm of her hand. The man she had grown to love for five years- even in a post-apocalyptic world- was gone. Robin cried, her eyes straining due to the lack of sleep and the number of tears falling into her hand. Ollie placed his hand over her back, trying to soothe and comfort her as she bawled. Her whole world was crashing down on her, and she barely had anything to live for anymore.

She sniffled, wiping her nose and trying to let her eyes dry. Robin could barely speak; her voice was so hoarse that nothing came out. Ollie was patient with her, and let her cry without moving onto another topic. He knew how much she loved Kam; Robin knew that. She continued to breathe heavily as she tried to calm herself down. As much emotions she was pulling herself through in the moment, she had to stay strong.

Ollie pulled his hand from Robin’s back, letting it fall into his lap lightly. “I know who killed him, if you want to find them.” He revealed.

The woman turned to him. “What?”

“Some kids from that old county we have a lookout near.” Ollie replied. “Jackson- I think.”

“How do you know?”

“They were standing on the balcony outside of the hotel.” He stated, fidgeting with his hands still placed in his lap. “I recognized them, Robin. One of them was the girl.”

The man Robin had been friends with all her life was in that Firefly lab all those years ago. He had made it out unscathed, luckily, but seeing his friends and co-workers die alongside him was enough to scar him for life. That’s why Ollie joined the WLF. Of all people, he would know damn well what the girl- the cure- looked like. He saw her first-hand. He watched through a safe room as the smuggler carried her out of the lab. Robin trusted his judgement.

“That fucking bitch.” She swore, standing up suddenly. “I’m going to kill her and her stupid friend.”

Ollie stood up after her, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing anything brash. “Calm down, okay?” He spoke softly. “We’ll get them, I promise. But we can’t make any decisions yet, Isaac is still on our ass about the whole ‘Santa Barbara’ thing.”

Robin turned to him; a frown plastered on her face as she furrowed her eyebrows deeply. “Don’t you want to kill them? This could be your chance to take revenge on the man that killed everyone you loved.” She brought up the smuggler, he had to still be with the girl.

“Of course, I do.” Ollie replied, grabbing onto both of her shoulders. “But we need to make sure we do it right. We can’t have Isaac and his guys coming after us, Robin.”

The woman nodded, tears still glistening against the light pouring in through the windows. They were stained on her cheeks and still looming in her eyes, creating a glossy effect. “Promise me that you won’t let this go, Ollie.” She stated. “Because even if you do, I’m going to Jackson.”

He hesitantly nodded, pulling a sigh of relief from Robin. “I promise.”


	19. ᴅᴀʏᴅʀᴇᴀᴍꜱ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

****ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ  
** ** ****ᴅᴀʏᴅʀᴇᴀᴍꜱ** **

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

_Nothing was the same. At least, that’s what Robin had been told all her life. She wasn’t alive before the outbreak, she had been born a few years after, but the stories that had been passed down about concerts and restaurants had seemed like heaven to her. Her mother had told her all about how she used to stargaze with her late husband; Robin’s father. Of course, you could stargaze after the outbreak, but the looming threat of an infected leaping out at you was too great._

_So, Robin aspired to be as close to the ‘real world’ as she could. For years she would create an atmosphere where she could forget that the outbreak had even happened. She created worlds in her mind where she could be anyone she wanted to be. Sometimes people would fear for her because she would no longer wish to live in the world that she was really in. But most people admired her ability to create worlds in her own mind._

_Robin sat down in her bedroom, laying on the ground with a hopeful glint in her eyes. She imagined herself to be at a concert, screaming lyrics to old-world songs that everyone had forgotten the words to years ago. Her eyes glimmered against the flickering red lights, the band on-stage belting their hearts out to their songs. It was just like she had imagined when her mother had told her about the_ Four Pathways _concert that she had gone to all those years ago._

_Her mother stepped in the room, shutting the door softly behind her. She leant down, shaking Robin’s shoulder lightly. The girl’s eyes shot open, and her mouth turned into a frown as she realized she really wasn’t in the old world, as much as she tried to be. Maybe one day the cure would be made and life could go back to normal. Maybe then Robin could live happily in her own body- in her own world. Maybe then her daydreaming and love for old world technology would finally be understood._

_The young girl sighed, sitting up straight from her laid-down position. Her bare feet swept across the carpeted flooring as she stood up, facing her mom fully. “Is Carl downstairs?” She asked timidly about her stepfather. Although he had only been married to Robin’s mother for a few years, the two had grown an inexplainable bond._

_“Love, we need to get out of here.” Her mom spoke in a panicked tone. “Something’s happening at the lab.” She explained to Robin, who still had not even the faintest idea of what was to happen within the next hour._

_“What’s going on?” The young girl asked, troubled. Her mother ignored her, taking her hand and pulling her out of the bedroom. “Mom, I’m scared, what’s going on?”_

_She dragged Robin out of their house in Salt Lake City, letting her look at the large hospital across from them. Daylight poured over their bodies, emitting a gorgeous sparkle in both of their eyes. Summer was nearing, but Robin still wanted to hold onto Spring. It was her favourite season. Everything would begin to bloom, meaning the flowers and trees would grow as vibrant as ever. But something felt off during that spring, she just couldn’t put her finger on it._

_Her mother gazed at the hospital, the corner of her mouth tugging upwards in a smirk. Although, it wasn’t a sly one- it was genuine. “Something big his happening, something that will change the world forever.” She exclaimed, turning to Robin. “One day, you will come to realize that this is the biggest day of our lives.” The girl still had no clue what her mother was implying that was so special about that Spring day, but she nodded, nonetheless._

_They stayed out there for what seemed like hours to Robin, when it was only minutes. The grass underneath her bare feet prickled her toes, making her giggle a bit. She would admit, yes- the hospital looked gorgeous in the limelight of the day. But she wanted to know what was happening that made that day so different from the others. Robin thought for the rest of the time she was out there, but when her mother pushed her back inside the house, she still had no clue what was to come._

✧✧✧

Robin sighed, rubbing her hand against her mouth as the weight of everything settled in. She had become accustomed to daydreaming more recently, it was the only way to truly escape from the fact that the person closest to her had died. The only thing stopping her from going after the girls that had killed him was Ollie. He wanted to take things slow and make sure that Isaac wasn’t hot on their trail if they left for the county, which was understandable. But Robin couldn’t wait.

She waited for him, anyway. The girls could’ve kept camp in Seattle, who knew where they could be in that moment. No matter what, Robin was going to go after them. Even if they were in the stadium as she stood up and walked over to her washroom. Robin doubted that they could make their way through Seattle without trouble from the WLF, but then again, they were slacking off with their patrols. Hence the Scar attack that had happened to her and Ollie.

The woman entered her bathroom, preparing a few towels on her countertop before turning on the shower head, letting it run for a few moments before stepping in. The scolding water was like heaven to her body, and it relieved her tense muscles. At the end of the day, a hot shower was always going to help her clear her mind and save her sore body, but nothing would take away the emotional pain she was going through in the moment.

Water splashed down on her hair as she began to lather shampoo into it, a luxury that not many people outside of the stadium got to have. Robin felt the dry skin on her head sting as the anti-dandruff shampoo sunk into her scalp. It was a heavenly feeling. After years and years of living without the beauty of a hot shower, dandruff shampoo stinging on her head was an amazing feeling. Robin felt like she could stand in the water stream for hours.

But, she didn’t. Water was still a sacred supply, even to the WLF, so she rinsed her hair out of shampoo and squirted some conditioner onto her palm. She let it sit on the bottom half of her hair for a few minutes as she lathered body wash onto her skin, rubbing off the dead skin as she went. Dirt and blood splashed onto the bottom of the shower tile, she hadn’t showered right after the Scar attack, which wasn’t a great idea in hindsight.

She quickly stepped out of the shower, turning the nozzle off and covering her body and hair in towels as she faced herself in the mirror. For the first time since Kam had broken the news to her, she looked decent. Robin’s hair wasn’t tussled, her face didn’t look sunken, she looked healthy. It was almost as if nothing remotely draining had happened in the last few days. Well, maybe besides the regular wear-and-tear of Isaac’s assignments.

Robin left the washroom, making a beeline for her bedroom and shutting the door behind her. She quickly got dressed into pajamas and slipped under her blankets, nuzzling under the warm covers. It felt different without Kam lying next to her. She tried to imagine him, maybe reading a book. He loved to read books before they went to sleep, it would occupy him. Robin looked at his bedside stand, smiling sadly at the number of unread novels on it. Maybe one day she would read them. For closure.

She told herself it would be for closure.


	20. ʟᴏᴏᴋᴏᴜᴛ

✧  
✧✧  
✧✧✧

**ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ**   
**ʟᴏᴏᴋᴏᴜᴛ**

✧✧✧  
✧✧  
✧

The only thing that would keep Robin's mind off of- well, everything- would be going on patrols and assignments. For the first time, Isaac seemed genuinely concerned for her when she asked for back-to-back patrol assignments, but he let her go anyway. He had too much on his plate to deal with Robin's emotional releases, she just needed something to distract herself. So, that's how she found herself on one of the lookout towers on the edge of the stadium.

She hadn't been out to that checkpoint in a long time, even though it was close to the large WLF stadium. Robin opened the door to the skyscraper office, quickly glossing over all its contents. The log was still on the desk, so she shrugged her backpack off, looking at it. The last entry was weeks ago, which was a bad sign. What if Scars made their way up to the lookout? They would have an easy sniping point straight into the stadium. Robin shook her head, picking up an old pencil and writing in the log.

_'_ _August 6th – It's Ollie and Robin. We got to the checkpoint safely like Isaac advised. Kam's still nowhere to be found. No infected in sight. Scar interference possible.'_

It was nothing but the truth. The number of infected had gone down drastically over the duration of the prior weeks, but the number of Scars around had increased. They were taking out the infected at rapid rates, at least- that's who she hoped was taking them out. Robin was unsure what was worse. People with actual consciousness, or people that weren't _people_ anymore. The two were almost equal in danger, if you thought about it hard enough.

Robin just hoped she wouldn't come across any on her patrol.

And luckily, she didn't. But it only made her mind wander to the fact that there were little to no attacks on the WLF recently. What was going on?


End file.
